GOOD AND BAD CROPS
“He, who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Mt 11:15)
Once again we are confronted with the rather Lenten themes of parable/stories. These were used by the Lord in order to better acquaint his people-those who listen and act upon His command, with what he expects a true son/daughter of the kingdom to be. For those of you who seek a more scriptural based explanation upon this Sunday’s Gospel theme – please visit a previous blog entitled SOWER AND SEED.
Hence, as we know only too well, the gospels are full of such accounts which exhort those who would worship the living God to do so interiorly, to live the faith and not parade around with all the pomp and ceremony while inside lies a mere empty sepulcher .
Thus, meaning those who might profess outwardly may fool us and we might even consider them to be great in the kingdom, but the reality is that such are false, trying to be more holy and pious than all of us put together. They might be the first ones to pray, fast and observe the commandments, but lack caritas-love; like the priest and Levite (deacon) who crossed the path of the man lying beaten on the ground; walking away from him (Lk 10:31) rather than rendering assistance and pastoral care like the good Samaritan did, yes, the least expected and insignificant one!
Isn’t it interesting that it is the insignificant ones, the outcasts, the commoners, and the people who had serious issues that God used and continues to use to speak and administer in his Church! The reason is simple – these are humble enough, they are not up themselves, and they are people who have or are suffering and most times at the hands of the so called religious people who have a wonderful time giving others grief in their ignorance and lack of true faith!
A true son/daughter of the kingdom should always refer to Paul’s 1st letter to the Church of Corinth where he teaches that: “If I speak in tongues of mortals and angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing…….thus faith, hope and love abide, and the greatest of these is love.” (1Cor 13: 1-13) Further, Paul adds in his pastoral letter to Titus that: “Our people should learn to apply themselves to do good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.” (Tit 3:14)
Urgent need! These days we are the people who like Pontius Pilate – wash our hands clean from those who are urgently in need. Often times, these are in desperate need of our protection against the cruelty of others who lurk in the church either via lusting after status and prestige or don’t know any better; following blindly the madness of the pharisaic party who thrive on seeing the downfall of others!
It is interesting to note the following passage: “The seeds that fell amongst thorns is as the people who may hear what the Lord says onto them, but the cares for this life throttle their growth and they become parched!” (Lk 8:14)
Last night I was having a conversation with my Archdeacon and we were discussing the many people who come to us – a bit like Nicodemus who comes to the Lord at night for fear of the Jews. Hence, such are not of our fold but come to us for all sorts of help especially in spiritual matters. They know only too well that they receive healing and peace, but are afraid to attend regularly in fear of the status quo of the particular society/culture they belong to!
This is a clear result that they are not being nurtured – catered for….and it is frightful when any senior ecclesiastical authority comes out with a whopper denying that Christ is God (the divinity of the Son) It is very clear that once we go down that road that they close their account with apostolic succession and canonicity to which only an Ecumenical (Orthodox) Council may remedy!!!
On that note, I was conversing with a friend over a coffee and someone from the other table who overheard our conversation couldn’t help but state: “How can Jesus be God? He is Son but not God!” Now in the Latin tradition of the creed (to better understand in our western concept) there is a part that reads CUM SUBSTANTIALE PATRIS – same in substance/essence with the Father. In other words, either Jesus is God or his coming amongst us was totally pointless….
Hence, I proceeded to state: “Jesus IS, WITH, FROM, OF, and IN GOD!” There have been many good people in history who have come, contributed and gone…..the very fact that GOD HIMSELF intervened and came to pick up the broken pieces via coming as SON OF MAN – it is only through that that we could be glued back together again or more to the point, ground down, formed again and made anew; as a potter works the clay! (Is 64:8) After all, we are of our parents DNA!
The Church (people in it more precisely) finds itself in crisis when it must address issues that have been swept under the carpet for way too long! Unfortunately, any such issue which it does not understand thanks to severe corrupt translations, it tends to classify as bad crop! There are various psychological issues and other such things that have always been part of our DNA that such people (the religious nuts) are quick to classify as demonic.
Yes, that realm which we call the ancient rebellion exists, but we tend to use it to excuse other things that are a result of our ignorance! Hence, its’ heart breaking when we hear or see people running other folk to the ground just because their humanity differs from ours; this is not a good seed!
We are all familiar with the pop song Forever Young….and of course we all tend to reminisce our youth and wish we could go back to those years. Yet there are some of us who have been so badly damaged by others that by reliving their youth in their fragile mind is the only means of stability they have to go on and try adding a few more years to their life before things get too much and they pull the plug….we supposed Christians who can be the greatest bigots are most responsible for many suicides especially in our young who feel that they have been rejected by God!
The other day I was at the shops and although I’ve seen these two people around the place before; at first glance I was guilty of derogatory comments in my mind, but then I came to the realization of why people get like this as explained in the previous paragraph. One such person is a man in his 60’s who dresses like one would in their late teens; the other is a lady also in her 60’s who dresses like a young woman in her twenties – yet the poor soul may have difficulty in her hands rendering her facial make up like that of a clown.
As we commemorate the holy Prophet Hosea whose name means God is help and proclaimed God’s message of repentance announcing: “Come back to me with all your heart, don’t let fear keep us apart!” (Hos 6:1-6) Let us then be true to our call and bring Christ to others by the work of our hands and the fruit of our heart; as we venerate icons throughout the church, let us greet one another with the same love and respect for we too are icons of He who made heaven and earth. For this very Sunday we celebrate the Seventh Ecumenical Council which ratified Iconography – please visit my previous blog for more information entitled: THE KATHOLIC FAITH WHICH IS ORTHODOX!
Thus, let us then allow the Holy Spirit to break down the walls of uncertainty (the sifting of wheat from the chaff) via allowing the evangelical words ripen in our hearts as it was written in the very intimacy of our Holy Mother Mariam who received God the Word as it reads: “The seed is the word of God. Thus, for that which falls in good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Lk 8:15)
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