Pony Rides

Understanding who the Word of God is

01/27/2021

Mark 4:1-20 On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, “Hear this!  A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

It was Palm Sunday but because of a sore throat, 5-year-old Annie stayed at home from church with her mother. When the rest of the family returned home they were carrying palm fronds. Annie asked them what they were for. The father explained: “People held them over Jesus’ head as he rode by on a colt.” Annie fussed: “Wouldn’t you know it! The one Sunday I am sick and Jesus shows up and offers pony rides!” Well, we don’t miss pony rides when we stay home from church, but what do we really miss? We miss the Word of God, Jesus, proclaimed by the priest and acclaimed by all the people; the Word that is believed in the Bible and consumed in Communion. That is what we miss.

In the gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the seeds and the sower. He concludes the parable with this lesson: “But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundred fold.” In other words, the "seed" is the Word of God, Jesus, and the different kinds of “soils” are the different kinds of “souls” in the world, namely, you and me. What we miss when we stay home from church – although Annie’s case was excusable – is not palm fronds and pony rides, but the opportunity to hear the Word of God (Jesus) and then the ability to bear great fruit.

Today I want to say three things about the Word of God so that our souls might be suitable soil for the seed to take root and bear fruit. On Sept. 30, 2019, the feast of St. Jerome, the patron saint of Scripture students, Pope Francis declared the third Sunday in Ordinary Time (that was last Sunday) the “Sunday of the Word of God.” You may have seen how at each Mass we enthroned the Book of the Gospels in front of the ambo, between two burning candles. Why? It was a symbolic gesture to suggest we do the same at home and in our hearts.

The Bible should be one of our most prized possession. We should revere it and read it, love it and live it. But sadly in most Catholic homes it collects dust because we are more concerned about where the remote control is for the TV. My first point, then, is to urge you to enthrone the Word of God in your hearts, especially in Catholic hearts, because it is already enthroned in Protestant hearts.

Secondly, what do we mean by the term “Word of God”? First and foremost, it is not a book! The Bible itself tells us that the Word of God is not basically a book. We read in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In other words, in the beginning God was not walking around with his Bible under his arm. He was walking around with his Son under his arm. The Word of God, therefore, is primarily a Person, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

And just so we don’t miss his meaning, John will state his point more starkly 13 verses later, saying: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn. 1:14). That is, before we can call the Word of God a book, the Word became flesh, he became human. The first meaning of the term “Word of God,” then, is that “It” is really a “He.” The Word of God is Jesus himself; only subsequently and derivatively, do we say the Word of God is a book.

The third thing is a little more technical. How do we “hear” the Word of God today? We hear it echoed in both the Scripture and in Tradition. The Bible itself tells us about this twofold font of the Word of God in 2 Thessalonians 2:15. St. Paul explains: “Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught" - now comes the really important part - “either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.” Did you catch that? The Bible itself says the Bible alone is not enough to hear the Word of God. You need “oral statements” as well as “letters,” that is, you need Tradition as well as Scripture to know Jesus. Think of it like this: Scripture and Tradition are two “rivers” that pour forth from the same Spring, namely, the Word of God who is Jesus.

This morning at 7 a.m. in Fort Smith, Arkansas a sower went out to sow, and some of his seeds fell on rich soil that would bear great fruit. But other seeds fell on soil that was only looking for palms fronds and pony rides.

Praised be Jesus Christ!