THE POWER OF THE SEED

Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a seed, which falls into the earth and dies and bears fruit. This fruit will be reaped when the right moment comes. The Kingdom, therefore, knows a beginning (Jesus, his preaching), a development (and it is the time of the Church) and an end (where we will have the eschatological harvest). Furthermore, the seed is pregnant with life and grows spontaneously (automàte). If it is true that the believer is not given to know the time of the fulfilment of the Kingdom, it is also true that the seed attests that there will be a harvest, as we explained. It is towards that moment that the gaze must be directed and not towards the resistance or refusal that the evangelical seed experiences and will always experience in its historical becoming. In short, the present must be grasped starting from the future (of God). This certainly should not push us towards disengagement. On the contrary, the believer is well aware of the contribution that he must offer at his coming, but at the same time he entrusts himself with confidence to the secret and effective action of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom is not a reality to be forced (yesterday’s zealots and today’s activists), nor is it the fruit of organized efficiency but a gift to be invoked and welcomed with recognized gratitude and generous responsibility. As a pictorial icon we refer our readers to an extraordinary work by Vincent van Gogh The Sower at Sunset from 1888. The inspiration is twofold: the life of the peasants, taken up several times by Our Lady and the evangelical parable. The whole scene is bathed in light. That is why, at the centre of the composition, an extraordinary sun dominates, whose rays enliven the entire horizon and fertilize the earth. Furthermore, the farmer’s gesture is decisive and vigorous. We could say that it is the gesture of those who deliver the seed to the earth in the hope of an abundant harvest. Saint James, in his letter, takes up the image when he invites us to look carefully at the farmer who sows the seed and then patiently awaits his fruit (cf. Jas 5,7). The Greek word, for patience, is makrothumia. It derives from thumus, «breath», «courage». Makrothumia is therefore the quality of those who have a deep breath, a broad soul, and the courage to endure long periods of time. This is how it was for Jesus, this is how it must also be for the Christian and therefore for each of us.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey