Do you see but don't perceive? Hear but never understand?

Mark 4 BSB (biblehub.com)

Mk 4: 1-20

The Parable of the Sower

What is your reaction when Christian's preach the Word of the Lord? Do you pull away? Perhaps when you were younger you used to? What about when you talk to loved ones or strangers about accepting Christ into their hearts? How do they respond?

When I think of The Parable of the Sower, it is my brother that comes to mind, or my younger self. We were both brought up as firm Catholics, both altar-servers, and we did not question faith. It was in our late teens that we began "to know best", finding other interests that took us away from the Church. It was in my late 30s, some twenty years later, that I was pulled back to God, by a force I could not comprehend. My brother, sadly, still has not returned. We have a daughter each: mine due to be baptised in the name of Christ, his has had what you might call a secular baptism! It makes no sense to me: but it does to him and I must respect that.

But my brother, and my younger self, have all the answers when they are confronted by faith. Whether this is in the form of my mother, telling us that our Lord will save us, or any rationale for coming "back to God".

The Parable of the Sower is about a farmer who sows his seed on the land, but it falls in different places: some on rocky, unfertile ground where it is burned by the sun and so cannot grow; others fall amongst thorns which muscle their way to supremacy over the seed, which loses the battle; and the third lot falls on good, fertile ground, where it grows and a harvest is reaped.

What is lovely about this parable is that, in Mark's Gospel, Jesus goes on to explain it in Mk 4: 13-20. He explains that the seed that falls on the rock represents people who hear God's word but have no root. Here I think of myself, I had roots in the Church from childhood and I am convinced this stayed tethered to me in my life, the elastic bringing me back. It is why I have hope for my brother: he has this root too!

Jesus goes onto explain that the seed that falls amongst the thorns represents the people who hear God's message but it is drowned out by other things, today that might be social media and the "icons" of celebrity. Finally, he explains the seeds that fall on good, fertile ground represent that people who hear and see God's Word, and proclaim His message, living lives rich in fulfillment with God's love.

It is Jesus' quotation in Mk 4: 12 that I leave you with today, that resonates so much and deserves much reflection:

"they may be ever seeing but never perceiving

and ever hearing but never understanding

otherwise they might turn

and be forgiven"

Do you see but don't perceive? Hear but never understand? It is the path to God's love that we find ourselves in in trying to make sense of his message.