30 January 2015
Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
The Man Who Planted Trees is a modern parable by the French author Jean Giono. It tells the story of one shepherd’s effort to re-forest a treeless and abandoned valley in the foothills of the Alps. He spent his life planting one hundred acorns a day. He continues to plant trees for forty years until the miserable valley turns into a beautiful and lush valley filled with the scent of flowers, the songs of birds, and fresh, flowing water.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a parable comparing the Kingdom of God to a man who scatters seed on the land hoping the seed will sprout and grow. Let us pause for a moment so as to reflect on the kind of “seed” or “tree” you would like to plant in your life. How can we help to restore the Kingdom of God by letting it sprout and grow through our lives?