Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time
Hosea 10: 1-3, 7-8, 12; Matthew 10: 1-7
All of us might have been some sort of gardeners/farmers some time at some point somewhere. I cook my food here in California. I found that the curry leaves are not easily available and what is available is expensive. So, I bought a curry leaf plant and planted at our backyard. I did not bother much except once a while watering the plant. I noticed the plant was not growing even after couple of months. Then, I started to water daily, fertilise and spend a little time with the plant. Now, its growing. Farming is a skill. Plants too require personal attention and personal relationship with the plants ensures and enhances the growth and the yielding. Hosea employs agricultural terms in the first reading to describe how deep-rooted determination and well grown faithfulness is required to return to the Lord.
The fallow Ground: The fallow ground. Fallow ground means a ground that is hard, barren and dry. It needs to be broken up and ploughed. Hosea uses agricultural images to communicate important messages of Israel’s attitude and God’s forgiveness. Once, Isarel was a luxuriant vine yielding plenty of fruits. They prospered and in plenty they forgot their God. They multiplied their gods. They halted between Baal and Yahweh. Their hearts were divided and grew hard, as hard as a fallow ground. Fallow ground is unfruitful ground, it does not produce anything. Now, they are an empty vine. It is time to break up the fallow ground. Hosea calls the heart of the people of Isarel as a fallow ground. Their hearts must be broken and revived. It is an invitation to turn the fallow ground into fertile field. Hosea admonishes the Israelites to break their hearts, plough, fertilise and all the Lord to grow.
Breaking requires Courage: The call to break up the fallow ground and turn over the unploughed ground is an urgent call, but it requires courage to do it. We may discover surprising things and issues while breaking our hearts; possibly buried deep within and ignored, some that habitually cultivate barriers. Perhaps we are fearful of what might happen if we dig deep into our hearts and have to have a total transformation. Perhaps there may fears, there is shame, condemnation, abandonment, a stubborn grudge, all the left fallow and forgotten rendering us lifeless. However, Hosea is offering us hope in the Lord. Break the ground and we will prosper again.
Biblically breaking guarantees revival, purification and new Life. The farmer breaks the ground, removes the unwanted rocks, jagged stones, broken roots, and ploughs and then sows the seed. The farmer sows the seed with the view of harvesting abundance. Unless the ground is broken and cleared of all unwanted hazardous materials the seeds do not fall deep, and the roots do not spread profoundly. Broken ground facilitates deep rooting and abundant yielding.
Personal time with desire to nurture: Our ground is dry, we have broken, ploughed and the seed of faith is sown. This is not all. The plant of faith needs our kindness and rain. Our personal time spent with the plant with the desire to nurture enhances the growth without fail. And the Lord will rain in growth and abundance of harvest.
In the gospel reading, we see Jesus calling his twelve disciples by name and commissions them on a mission. Calling them by name signifies the personal relationship that Jesus has established with them. The priority of this relationship is that disciples consciously choose to spend personal time with their master with the desire to nurture the relationship.
Our Takeaway
1. Am I a fallow ground? Is my faith in the Lord divided, halted between……,?
2. Let me courageously take efforts to break my heart, the fallow ground; I need to grow, revive and transform. A Well broken, ploughed and prepared ground can resist weeds, thorns and thistles.
3. Consciously choosing to spend personal time with the master with the desire to nurture the relationship/faith is prerequisite, otherwise, breaking, ploughing might end up barren again.
Wilson SVD
Divine Word Missionary
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