Holy Martyr Luppus; Holy Priest-Martyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (193-211)
2 Corinthians 12:10-19; Mark 4:10-23
Leave-taking of the Feast of the Holy Dormition
Read Mark 4:10-23
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
The parable of the sower is a good reminder for us that we are constantly surrounded by a multitude of temptations. Such temptations have one common goal: to snatch the saving word of God from our lives.
Jesus points out that hearing the word of God does not suffice. One’s calling is to accept the word of God or to “embrace it with a generous and good heart” (Lk 8:15) in order to “bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold” (Mk 4:20).
Jesus, Himself being the Sower, did not give us the words of eternal life so that we can simply know about it. Christ came into the world to share the good news with us because He loves all of His children. Precisely for this reason Jesus asked His disciples and is asking us today to preach the good news to all nations, to witness to the truth and to defend the truth Who is Jesus Christ Himself; to love God and one another; to be humble and to serve God and one another; to be Jesus-like.
After all, whom else can we take as a model for our life if not Jesus and His followers? As Peter says, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:68-69).