THE BUILDER AND THE SOWER

Reflection for Wednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time Year A

(2Sam 7:4-17; Mk 4:1-20)

1.0.   THE BUILDER

 “Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.” The Prophet Nathan discouraged David from embarking on the temple project. He explained to the King that God was much aware of the need for a befitting temple. “I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt to this day, and I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.” However, David was not assigned to this, but to keep Israel secure from their enemies. Then Nathan told the King that God would not take the kingship from him as He did to Saul, but his own son would succeed him. “He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Though David’s son was to embark on the temple project, God talks of Himself as the real Builder, who would establish an everlasting dynasty for David.

2.0.  THE SOWER

The Builder of lasting kingdom now comes to us as the Sower of the seed of life in the Gospel we read this morning. The seed sown is the Word of God. As the Builder would become the Temple (cf. Jn 2:19); so the Sower would become the Seed. The Builder of everlasting Kingdom is equally generous in giving out the Seed of the Word of God. Would the sons of David cooperate with God’s plan to build a lasting kingdom for them? Or can the soil in which the seed is sown bear fruit? The Sower is extravagant in spreading the seed of the Word; he continues to spread the seed despite the failure of some recipients to bear fruit. Since He dropped each seed with hope of reaping the fruit, we can feel His silent agony as some seeds failed to germinate, others refused to grow, etc.

3.0.  THE HARVEST

“But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty-fold and sixty-fold and a hundredfold.” It is amazing that the enemy that devours, the rocky ground that dries up, and the thorns that choke up cannot stop the harvest! In the same way, the weakness of David and the sins of Children could not pull down the kingdom God built in the name of David.  So the hope of the Sower cannot be in vain; He got even hundredfold. Now the joy and beauty of the harvest is stronger than the agony of sowing… “He went off, went off weeping, carrying the seed. He comes back, comes back singing, bringing in his sheaves” (Ps 126:6).

Therefore, if today we cultivate a loving and contrite heart like David, we will bear fruit for the harvest, and God will establish us secure in His everlasting Kingdom. The joy of the Master builder, and the triumphant steps from a fruitful harvest is our inspiration today. Let us set our lives today as a rich soil, which receives the word of God, puts it work, and bears fruit. May your day be fruitful.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Wednesday January 29^th, 2020.