Since yesterday, I have been reflecting on Jesus’ enigmatic answer to his disciples’ question: "Why do you speak to them in parables? " (Mt 13:10) His answer goes like this: "Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.” And the enigma follows, “To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Some say the “it” must be “faith”: the one who “has faith” in the first place will receive more, while the one who has “no faith” even the little he or she has will be taken away.
Be that as it may, I feel I need to continue my exploration and I found that the Word of God today seems to give me the hint for a possible answer (actually the continuation of the gospel above, cf Mt 13:19-23). “The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."
The basic thing in all these types of soil (disciples?) is the capacity to hear the word. True, there is a basic difference among the types of soil (this is the lovely thing about the parables – they stimulate your imagination bringing to mind reality) – the path, the rocky ground, the thorny soil, the rich soil. That is equivalent to saying that we, disciples of Jesus, have very different personalities and approaches to reality. All of us are capable of “receiving the seed” or listening to the Word, but not all have the same capacity to understand. Hence to anyone who has more of this capacity to understand, more will be given to learn about and live in Jesus.
The gift and the task of understanding then, beginning from attentive listening, seems to be the answer to my search. This is about all we can do from our side to let our spiritual life grow. God will help us to do the rest.
At this point, I recall Bernard Lonergan, a Canadian Jesuit philosopher and theologian who developed a whole system of how we humans could possibly grow in understanding what we know (beginning from experience), deciding on our actions on the basis of what we know, and making it a “habit” to do good, allowing ourselves to be transformed into the Love that has known us and that allows us to know him. I guess that would be the equivalent of "bearing fruit and yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty."
His works are not easy reading though. Here is one quote from him which calls to mind Jesus’ parable today: "The seed of intellectual curiosity has to grow into a rugged tree to hold its own against the desires and fears, conations and appetites, drives and interests, that inhabit the heart of man." Insight (310 [285]).
Some say the “it” must be “faith”: the one who “has faith” in the first place will receive more, while the one who has “no faith” even the little he or she has will be taken away.
Be that as it may, I feel I need to continue my exploration and I found that the Word of God today seems to give me the hint for a possible answer (actually the continuation of the gospel above, cf Mt 13:19-23). “The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."
The basic thing in all these types of soil (disciples?) is the capacity to hear the word. True, there is a basic difference among the types of soil (this is the lovely thing about the parables – they stimulate your imagination bringing to mind reality) – the path, the rocky ground, the thorny soil, the rich soil. That is equivalent to saying that we, disciples of Jesus, have very different personalities and approaches to reality. All of us are capable of “receiving the seed” or listening to the Word, but not all have the same capacity to understand. Hence to anyone who has more of this capacity to understand, more will be given to learn about and live in Jesus.
The gift and the task of understanding then, beginning from attentive listening, seems to be the answer to my search. This is about all we can do from our side to let our spiritual life grow. God will help us to do the rest.
At this point, I recall Bernard Lonergan, a Canadian Jesuit philosopher and theologian who developed a whole system of how we humans could possibly grow in understanding what we know (beginning from experience), deciding on our actions on the basis of what we know, and making it a “habit” to do good, allowing ourselves to be transformed into the Love that has known us and that allows us to know him. I guess that would be the equivalent of "bearing fruit and yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty."
His works are not easy reading though. Here is one quote from him which calls to mind Jesus’ parable today: "The seed of intellectual curiosity has to grow into a rugged tree to hold its own against the desires and fears, conations and appetites, drives and interests, that inhabit the heart of man." Insight (310 [285]).
