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Parable of the Sower
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福音讀經
馬爾谷福音 4:1-20
耶穌來到世上，並非為報復那些不忠信的管家，而是因我們充滿罪惡，無法進入天堂，只能藉著祂才能得救。祂在撒種的比喻中，以種子比喻祂的聖言，土壤比喻人的靈魂；撒種的人就是祂自己。在舊約中，依撒意亞先知曾用葡萄園作類似的比喻(依5)；在這裡，耶穌用的是撒種的比喻，來告訴我們接納並服從天主的話，如今已是更容易，也更快能結出果實。
在比喻中，撒種的人沒有區別土壤的種類；同樣，耶穌也沒有區分聆聽祂話語的人，無論是貧窮還是富有，明智還是愚笨，懶惰或是勤勞，勇敢或怯懦的人，祂都一概願意教導。撒出的種子落不到土壤，並非撒種的人的過失，而是土壤本身，亦即是人的靈魂，往往基於不同的原因未能接納這些種子——即天主的聖言和訓導。撒種的人本該明白種子不該撒在荊棘中或石頭地上，可是天主卻從中給我們希望，因只要我們願意悔改，其實荊棘也能被除去，石頭地也可成為好的土壤。
（本文以英文為準）
Gospel Reading
And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. He answered them, “The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”
Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no roots; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
Mark 4:1-20
Jesus comes to us because we could not enter heaven, our sins fencing us out from the entrance. And for what purpose? To destroy the ground teeming with thorns? To take vengeance upon the unfaithful stewards? No; but to till and tend it, and to sow the word of godliness. For by seed here He means His doctrine, and by land, the souls of men, and by the sower, Himself. Just as the prophet Isaiah has compared the teaching of the people to the planting of a vine (Isaiah 5); here it is compared to sowing, to show that obedience is now shorter and more easy, and will sooner yield fruit.
As a sower does not make a distinction in the ground which is beneath him, but simply puts in the seed, so also Jesus Himself addresses all without distinction of rich and poor, of wise and foolish, of slothful or diligent, of brave or cowardly. However, the greater portion of the seed is not lost through the fault of the sower, but of the earth, the soul which hears and received it. A real steward, if he sowed in this way, would be rightly blamed; for he knows that rock, or the road, or thorny ground, cannot become fertile. But not so with the soul; for there it is possible that stony ground may become fertile; and that the road should not be trodden down, and that the thorns may be destroyed, for if this could not take place, He would not have sown there. By this therefore He gives to us hope of repentance.
參考 References:
Catena Aurea (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Homily 44 on Matthew (St. John Chrysostom)
