He then added ; "Let anyone of you who have the ability to hear listen and acquire wisdom!"
The Lord often spoke in parables such as these because people especially religious people were and are KNOW IT ALL'S! They are as described in the book of the Prophet Isaiah (Is 29:13) as "People who honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me!" In which Jesus affirms again in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 15:8 -9) exhorting that "These people give honor outwardly onto me with their speech but their hearts are extremely remote from my presence! Further, they worship me in vain due to replacing that which I command with the reasoning of their deluded minds and with such convenience allow the craftiness of their wickedness to be the doctrines that become impediments between me and my people! "
To most of you, this quotation above would be unheard/unseen due to the translation difference, and such people who are the experts just like the people the Lord described above, these would say: "That's not what is written!" Unfortunately, Holy Scripture has been translated very badly in English, as we know - if someone reads holy scripture in Greek or even Italian, such languages presume we know the context and thus a phrase is self explanatory! Unfortunately, when they were translating things in English - its a completely different affair! Within our mother tongue, word for word translation DOES NOT MAKE SENSE! Therefore most translations are nothing but waffle and it encourages self interpretation which the Holy Fathers forbid due to making it up in our heads! For in the English language, one must not only state what has been said, but explain it at the same time to eliminate doubt and affirm comprehension BY ALL WHO READ IT!
Thus, in the account recorded by the Apostle Luke, the Lord speaks of himself as the living word/seed that seeks to take root within the heart and lives of all people! But, we all have our rebellious nature which resembles as an open pathway, rock, thorns, and of course our good side when humility kicks in -fertile soil!
Most Sadly, there is a large number of good people (potential fertile soil) who are outside of the Church not because they want to be, but its all due to the fact of these business people which the Lord described above that keep good people out because these high profile church people who are truly weak, disturbed, repressed, and covetous individuals are afraid to loose status rather than gaining souls!!!!
Therefore, when the good seed/fertile soil (us who try to do the right thing) begin to advance and bring about a new Pentecost, we are blocked by these sad and self obsessed individuals who become the open path that does not want to conform to God's ways! They become the rock of stubbornness in not accepting God's plan! They become thorns which choke/detest to comply with what God would like to bring to ripen!
One thing is certain, and many saints in particular- the martyrs truly testified to this; if we wholeheartedly believe and show this more inwardly rather than making public spectacles, the Lord will enter into the very fabric of our existence and mold us into the pattern of his glorious design. In other words, everything we do will succeed and he will provide for us and raise us high above and beyond those who tried to crush!
We are the branches from the vine he has planted, and through his Apostles, we have come to know him as the living vine! Thus, let us once again cultivate the seed who is the Lord of the harvest who wishes once again to take root in the minds and hearts of our very existence in order that we may not only exist, but truly LIVE in the fullness of our capacity which can only be discovered by constant growth and tending with the garden of our souls. Amen!
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