Let us be BOBO!
18 September 2021, Saturday of the 24th Week in the Ordinary Time
Lk 8:4-15
If I were to decide, I would not give a homily. Why? Because after narrating the parable, Jesus, in response to the request of His disciples who for the meaning of the parable, gives a detailed explanation.
If we try to find where we are in the parable, for sure, we are the soil on which the Word of God is sown. But what kind of soil? I do not see this parable as labeling people. Yes, we can refer ourselves as a soil along the path, rocky, thorny and good but such labels should not put us inside the box. Remember, Jesus uses the language of the farmers. Farmers respect the turning of seasons, of underdoing the process and of cultivating virtues.
First, let’s look at the seasons. There are times that we either respond or react to the various events in life. The four kinds of soil (along the path, rocky, thorny and good) are not stages that once we made progress, we are expected not to digress. Look at our lives. We can either respond or react to how God surprises us. There are times that we moved up, down, left and right. Sometimes we are in a mess and at other times, we’re at peace. Are we schizophrenic? No! But today’s Gospel teaches us how God can work with us even if we are struggling and far from what He expects from us. Barbra Streisand, in her song Lessons to be Learned said, “Why did the right road take a wrong turn? Why did our heart break, why’d we get burned? Just like the seasons, there are reasons for the path we take. There are no mistakes. Just lessons to be learned.”
What lessons can we learn from the parable? Many. But let me point out only one because of its high significance. This leads me to the second point: trust the process. Take note, the Word of God is being planted. Yes, the Word of God is powerful. But God respects our openness and cooperation to make Him work in us, through us and with us. Even if God desires that we bear good fruit, He respects our freedom. Even he wills us to be better each day, but He never dictates, control and manipulates us. We trust the process. Within the process, we are gradually achieving God’s dream. What is His dream? That we become BOBO (Bringing Out the Best in Ourselves).
What will make us become if we trust the process? Many wonderful things, even beyond our imagination, can happen. Why? God, who is so lavish in sowing the seed, can work wonders to the max! But let me highlight only one point. In surrendering to God’s process, we, like the farmers, gradually cultivate values and virtues such as patience and perseverance, humility and obedience, generosity and care, and a whole lot more! These values do not only tell us that we are in God’s Kingdom. Cultivating these values/virtues are marks that God is reigning in our lives!
If you think that life is so unkind because you have put yourself inside the box with a label “along the path”, “rocky” and “thorny”, look at the Sower who is lavish in sowing the seed to all the various seasons in our life. Barbra Streisand is right. We can commit mistakes. But those mistakes are lessons to be learned. Ano? BOBO ka ba? Oo. BOBO tayo. Bringing Out the Best in Ourselves. Amen.
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