Wednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 319
Reading 12 SM 7:4-17
That night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
“Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house to dwell in?
I have not dwelt in a house
from the day on which I led the children of Israel
out of Egypt to the present,
but I have been going about in a tent under cloth.
In all my wanderings everywhere among the children of Israel,
did I ever utter a word to any one of the judges
whom I charged to tend my people Israel, to ask:
Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’
“Now then, speak thus to my servant David,
‘The LORD of hosts has this to say:
It was I who took you from the pasture
and from the care of the flock
to be commander of my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you went,
and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.
And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my people Israel;
I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your enemies.
The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you.
And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his Kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name.
And I will make his royal throne firm forever.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
And if he does wrong,
I will correct him with the rod of men
and with human chastisements;
but I will not withdraw my favor from him
as I withdrew it from your predecessor Saul,
whom I removed from my presence.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.’”
Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.
This sounds like a prophecy of Solomon's Temple. Solomon, the son of David, built a temple unto the Lord. He also built himself a gigantic house and in time, began to worship false idols.
1 Kings 11:3-5 (RSVCE)
3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ash′toreth the goddess of the Sido′nians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
No, this is not a prophecy of Solomon and his temple, but a prophecy of the Son of David, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who built the Temple of the Holy Spirit in the heart of man. It is this house, not built by human hands, where God wants to dwell.
Responsorial Psalm PS 89:4-5, 27-28, 29-30
R. (29a) For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will make your dynasty stand forever
and establish your throne through all ages.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“He shall cry to me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock that brings me victory!’
I myself make him firstborn,
Most High over the kings of the earth.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“Forever I will maintain my love for him;
my covenant with him stands firm.
I will establish his dynasty forever,
his throne as the days of the heavens.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
The Scriptures all point to Jesus Christ. The Son of God is the Son of man to whom God has given dominion over all the world:
Hebrews 1:
God Has Spoken by His Son
1 In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high
Gospel MK 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.
This boat is Simon's (i.e. St. Peter) and is a figure of the Catholic Church. That is why the Catholic Church is frequently referred to as the Barque of Peter. Barque meaning boat.
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.”
Jesus would speak to the multitudes in parables. That is, in imagery and metaphor, in order that they would not immediately understand what He said. He would explain the imagery to the Apostles and disciples (i.e. the foundation of His Church) in order that the multitudes would come to them for explanation.
And when he was alone,
those present along with the Twelve
questioned him about the parables.
He answered them,
“The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”
This is a reference to what Isaiah prophecied (Isaiah 6:9) about the Messiah, that the multitudes would not understand His Teachings.
Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand any of the parables?
Jesus chastised the Apostles and disciples because they also could not understand His Word.
The sower sows the word.
The sower is the Teacher of God's word. The Church.
These are the ones on the path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once
and takes away the word sown in them.
The Church Teaches the Doctrines of Jesus Christ. But many, those in the path, will hear the Teaching but will not accept it because the Deceiver will not let them understand.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who,
when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.
But they have no roots; they last only for a time.
Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away.
Others will receive the Teaching at once, but will not tolerate the Teaching because it requires suffering and discipline.
Those sown among thorns are another sort.
They are the people who hear the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches,
and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word,
and it bears no fruit.
Still others will listen to the Teaching but will prefer worldly riches to spiritual riches. They would rather be comfortable in this life and care nothing about the life to come.
But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it
and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
And then there are those who hear the Teaching of Jesus Christ with an open heart and accept the Word of God entirely. They will engrave it in their own heart and in turn teach all with whom they come in contact. They are God's Elect. The Saints who put God first and above all else. They are you and I, if we persevere in well doing with all patience in hope of a life everlasting.
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