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i t t 4 The Southern Cross, Page 8 Thursday, March 30, 2000 life Parables for By Father J.P. Earls, OSB Cathoiic News Service TT\s Jesus begins to instruct his isciples on the meaning of the par able of the sower and the seed, he explains why he uses this method of teaching large crowds: “The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not lis ten, nor do they un derstand’” (Matthew 13:13). No matter how often I hear these words, they still strike me as cold, as somehow hav ing gotten misplaced as they made their way from oral tradition into the written Gospel. Yet, almost identical passages appear in Mark and Luke. Why would Jesus teach in a way designed not to communicate his message? One possible — and amusing — explanation that comes to mind is that Jesus is poking fun at his disciples. He explains the parables to them because they have been slower than many in the crowd to pick up their mean ing. This is not a question of “you of little faith” but “you of little understanding.” As a literature teacher, I can easily imagine Jesus in this situation! But a more sober possibility presents itself: that Jesus was using parables to protect him self and his group of followers from unfriendly surveillance. A wandering preacher who at tracted large crowds was bound to draw suspicion from both civil and religious authorities. Matthew reports that two people testified at Jesus’ trial that he had said he was going to tear the temple down (Matthew 26:21), while John pictures the Roman-appointed Jew ish authorities as eager to convince Pilate that Jesus was opposing Rome by claiming to be king of the Jews (see John 18 and 19, particularly 19:12). Neither of these charges was liter ally true, but they point out that Jesus had to watch what he said in public. By telling entertaining stories with a hidden point, he could explain that point to his disciples in private, who would then pass the explanation on to trusted friends, relatives and associ ates. It was the informants, then, who “hearing, were not able to under stand” the message Jesus was deliv ering in parables. We can imagine the puzzlement of his enemies re ceiving word froip the informants that Jesus was teaching about how to plant a field, or bake bread, or conduct a wedding feast! ■ ■ ■ We have our own problems today understanding the parables. The key to the hidden meaning of these stories has been delivered to us by centuries of Christian preaching and writing. esus had to watch what he said in public. By telling entertaining stories with a hidden point, he could explain that point to his disciples in private, who would then pass the explanation on to trusted friends, relatives and associates." ing. We are puzzled because some elements seem unchristian or im moral to us, and Jesus doesn’t take time out from telling his story to con demn them. For instance, the “unjust steward” actually steals from his employer to feather his nest after he loses his job. Far from condemning his actions, tute in spiritual matters, we still are bothered by Jesus seeming to approve of an embezzler. To the extent that we can concen trate on the central point of the par able, we can approach the heart of Christ’s message. m n a Today we find ourselves sur rounded by many stories — not just in books, but in movies and on television, in the private and public lives of people we know. The parable-telling of Christ challenges us to look for the kernel of truth in these stories — the love, compassion and quiet heroism that can be found in many of them — and to share it with people of good will around us. Some stories lend themselves readily to this: lives such as Mother Teresa’s and movies such as “A Man for All Seasons” or “The Mission” come readily to mind. Others don’t seem at all Christian, but, once again, Christ may be hiding his mes sage in them, like the man in the parable who buries the “pearl of great price” in the field (Matthew 13:46). Christ has shared with us the key to all human stories: the person who gives his or her life for others. Isn’t this the buried treasure we should be looking for in all the stories we come across? (Benedictine Father Earls teaches English at St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minn.) Yet we are held back from easily get ting their meaning by the same “folksy” people and situations Jesus used to make his stories appealing. With every passing year, Christian congregations understand less and less about how fields were planted in Jesus’ day, or bread was baked, or what proto col was used then for conducting a wed ding feast. Our population contin ues to concentrate in cities, leaving fewer and fewer Christians familiar with farming life. Our daily tasks, whether at work or in the home, are increasingly done by machine rather than by hand. The governmental setup of Jesus’ day bears little resem blance to ours; I still don’t know why people were sent to jail to pay their debts. Another problem for us in under standing the parables is our tendency to want to see every word of these stories as part of Jesus’ moral teach- All contents copyright©2000 by CNS Jesus says we should learn from his behavior! (Luke 16:1-8) While we know on one level that this parable is not about honesty in business dealings but about being as- FOODFORTHOUGHT “Far more affirmation is needed in the church today. ” Those “words of wisdom” appeared in a pastoral letter this year by Bishop Frank Rodimer of Paterson, N.J. But is affirmation “needed” * 1 ? Hasn’t the word “affirmation” come under suspicion in recent times, as if whatever it means is something fairly trite — sort of like saying “I’m OK, you’re OK”? The bishop seemed aware of such questions. He wrote, “Affirming each other is not simply a matter of making people feel good about themselves.” As I read him, the bishop thinks there is more to people than they themselves may realize; we could help them know this. i Bishop Rodimer explained it this way: “Affirmation is a recognition of the grace and life of God that exists within every single person, regardless of their social class, gender, orientation or viewpoint. People who affirm each other can then appreciate the value of being interdependent — of being connected with all that is good and right and filled with dignity.” Are these important words for our times? Bishop Rodimer concluded, “This is clearly the message of Jesus Christ that we need to hear.” 13 David Gibson, Editor, Faith Alive!