When we hear “To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Mk 4:25), our brains may resist this teaching. On the surface level it seems like Jesus is saying that the rich will grow richer while the poor grow poorer. It seems like He’s saying that instead of those who have many things sharing with those who don’t, He wants to increase this discrepancy.
When we read this passage with an earthly, material focus, the lesson will seem backwards and wrong. Jesus isn’t talking about physical possessions when he explains that more will be given to those who have. He’s talking about the spiritual gifts that we are given in order to facilitate a change in our hearts or in the greater community.
Imagine a father takes his two sons to a park with a bag of bird seed. He gives each son a cup full of seed to feed the birds. The first son generously scatters the seed and empties his cup in no time. He rushes back to the father who refills his cup with more bird seed and the son gets back to scattering. The other son doesn’t want to waste his seed. He plops one or two seeds on the ground at a time. He hoards his seed and refuses to use the seed for the purpose of feeding the hungry birds. The birds quickly learn to flock around the other brother. As their time at the park comes to a close, the father takes the full cup of seed from his second son’s hand and allows the first son to scatter the seed to the eager birds.
In this way, we are invited to use the gifts and graces we are given from our Heavenly Father. When we are given these spiritual gifts, the Lord doesn’t want us to reject them nor hoard them for ourselves. If we habitually ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit and refuse to bless others with the gifts we have freely been given, then the little that we do have will be taken from us.
If we respond with a gracious and willing yes, the Lord will continue to heap these graces on us. We are invited to rejoice and give thanks whenever we recognize a gift given, and then discern if this grace is meant for our own conversion or for the blessing of others. When we sincerely use the gifts and graces he gives us, we experience the joy of living in the Father’s will. The more we say yes and boldly share what we receive, the more our Father will continue to give to us.
The Lord can’t fill a cup that is already brimming with the first batch of bird seed. There’s simply no room. Once we share what we have, we make room for our Father to lavish us with even more.
Cuando escuchamos: “Al que tiene, se le dará; pero al que tiene poco, aun eso poco se le quitará” (Mc 4,25), nuestra mente puede resistirse a esta enseñanza. A primera vista, parece que Jesús está diciendo que los ricos se enriquecerán más, mientras que los pobres se empobrecerán más. Parece que, en lugar de que los que tienen mucho compartan con los que no tiene, él quiere aumentar esta discrepancia.
Cuando leemos este pasaje desde un enfoque terrenal y material, la lección parecerá contradictoria y errónea. Jesús no se refiere a posesiones físicas cuando explica que se dará más a quienes tienen. Se refiere a los dones espirituales que recibimos para facilitar un cambio en nuestros corazones o en la comunidad en general.
Imagina a un padre que lleva a sus dos hijos a un parque con una bolsa de semillas para los pájaros. Les da a cada uno un vaso lleno de semillas para alimentar a los pájaros. El primer hijo esparce generosamente las semillas y vacía su vaso en un instante. Corre de vuelta a su padre, quien rellena su vaso con más semillas, y el hijo vuelve a esparcirlas. El otro hijo no quiere desperdiciar las suyas. Deja caer una o dos semillas en el suelo a la vez. Las acapa y se niega a usarlas para alimentar a los pájaros hambrientos. Los pájaros aprenden rápidamente a reunirse alrededor del otro hermano. Al terminar su tiempo en el parque, el padre toma la copa llena de semillas de la mano de su segundo hijo y permite que el primero las esparza entre los pájaros ansiosos.
De esta manera, se nos invita a utilizar los dones y las gracias que recibimos de nuestro Padre Celestial. Cuando recibimos estos dones espirituales, el Señor no quiere que los rechacemos ni los acaparemos. Si habitualmente ignoramos las indicaciones del Espíritu Santo y nos negamos a bendecir a otros con los dones que hemos recibido gratuitamente, entonces lo poco que tenemos nos será arrebatado.
Si respondemos con un sí generoso y voluntario, el Señor seguirá colmándonos de estas gracias. Estamos invitados a regocijarnos y dar gracias cada vez que reconocemos un don recibido, y luego a discernir si esta gracia es para nuestra propia conversión o para la bendición de otros. Cuando usamos sinceramente los dones y las gracias que nos da, experimentamos la alegría de vivir en la voluntad del Padre. Mientras más decimos que sí y compartimos con valentía lo que recibimos, más nuestro Padre nos seguirá dando.
El Señor no puede llenar un vaso que ya está rebosando. Simplemente no hay espacio. Una vez que compartimos lo que tenemos, hacemos espacio para que nuestro Padre nos colme con aún más.
Maria Riley is a passionate Catholic author and speaker who loves volunteering or playing board games when she’s not writing or mom-ing around with her four daughters. Her award-winning Catholic children’s chapter book series, Adventures with the Saints, is endorsed by her bishop. Visit her at MariaRileyAuthor.com or on social media @mariarileyauthor. She and her family live in Kansas.
Feature Image Credit: Алексей Гвоздев, pexels.com/photo/a-person-feeding-seeds-to-a-pigeon-8858630/
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Deacon Dan Schneider is a retired general manager of industrial distributors. He and his wife Vicki have been married for over 55 years. They are the parents of eight children and thirty-one grandchildren. He has a degree in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor University. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon in 2002. He has a passion for working with engaged and married couples and his main ministry has been preparing couples for marriage.
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