In today’s gospel (John 12:20-33), we hear the beautiful metaphor of “a wheat grain” to describe how new life comes about. Now, I should be able to apply it to my own life. The metaphor that Jesus used has special meaning to those with “green thumbs.” For example, my next door neighbour is keen to grow tomatoes. During the harvest season, he saved some of the seeds from the tomatoes, and put them in an airtight container to keep for planting the next season. In fact, the seeds can be saved for years. But they need to be planted, even though it be a few years later, in order to produce more tomatoes.
Now, connect that “seed” metaphor with another part of today’s gospel. Jesus says, “Wherever I am my servant will be there too.” Well, where is Jesus? In his public ministry, he is out there “planting seeds” of new life – seeds of love, seeds of instruction, seeds for our call to holiness, seeds for our call to faithfulness to God, seeds for forgiveness and compassion.
“My servant will be there too.” As followers, as disciples of Christ, we are called to the same tasks in which He was engaged. We’re called to plant the seeds of Christ. This is what servants do: whatever their master wants them to do. So Lent is a good time to “replay” your recent life: have you been keeping your “seeds of life” sealed up for some unknown future use (also known as laziness and spiritual blindness), or have you been faithful in carrying on the mission of Jesus by planting those seeds in your daily life?
An old proverb says, “it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” It is easy to sit and complain about the world’s immorality and decadence. But what seeds are you planting, what candle are you lighting, to help overcome this darkness and bring about new life? We need to continue the mission of Jesus, and live through Him, with Him and in Him. Mushrooms grow in the dark; Christians grow in the light of Christ and plant their seeds of new life by charity in action.
Now, connect that “seed” metaphor with another part of today’s gospel. Jesus says, “Wherever I am my servant will be there too.” Well, where is Jesus? In his public ministry, he is out there “planting seeds” of new life – seeds of love, seeds of instruction, seeds for our call to holiness, seeds for our call to faithfulness to God, seeds for forgiveness and compassion.
“My servant will be there too.” As followers, as disciples of Christ, we are called to the same tasks in which He was engaged. We’re called to plant the seeds of Christ. This is what servants do: whatever their master wants them to do. So Lent is a good time to “replay” your recent life: have you been keeping your “seeds of life” sealed up for some unknown future use (also known as laziness and spiritual blindness), or have you been faithful in carrying on the mission of Jesus by planting those seeds in your daily life?
An old proverb says, “it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” It is easy to sit and complain about the world’s immorality and decadence. But what seeds are you planting, what candle are you lighting, to help overcome this darkness and bring about new life? We need to continue the mission of Jesus, and live through Him, with Him and in Him. Mushrooms grow in the dark; Christians grow in the light of Christ and plant their seeds of new life by charity in action.
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