Mark 4:1-9 NRSVue

¹Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ²He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³“Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” ⁹And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”

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Some thoughts on this scripture

Reflection
I imagine my situation as the landscape about which Jesus speaks: where does it seem barren, what are the fertile places? I invite Jesus to broadcast his words of life where I am.

Reflection
The sower knows that not all seed will flourish. I pray for forgiveness and healing for the rocky, bare places I observe in my life. I pray that I may not neglect where there is growth but that I may grow in gratitude and in hope.