Day 26: The Seed Among Thorns (Mark 4:7, 18–19)

By Sindhu Nadarajan · October 22, 2026

Quick recap

This week we have looked at the soils where the word does not bear fruit. On the path, our hearts are like a wayside crowded with traffic. When we are distracted and don't attend to the word, it never sinks in, as "Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them" (Mk 4:15). On the rocky ground, the word is received with joy, but there is no depth to hold it when trial comes. Among the thorns, the word takes root and grows, but other things grow alongside it and choke it.

What are the thorns?

Jesus names them: "worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things" (Mk 4:19). These are not evil in themselves. They are normal things that exist in the world: work, money, plans, the needs of daily life.

St. John Chrysostom notes that the Lord does not blame riches but the lure of riches, and not the world but the anxieties of the world. The fault is not in the things, but in how they take hold of us. When we are possessed by them instead of casting our cares on him ("Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you," 1 Pet 5:7), they grow up around the seed and choke it. The word takes root, but it never matures and never bears fruit.

How the curse of paradise was reversed

We first hear about thorns in the Garden of Eden. After Adam's disobedience, God said: "Cursed is the ground because of you!… Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you" (Gen 3:17–18).

Tertullian taught that Christ's crown of thorns was a figure of the sins the soil of our flesh brought forth, removed by the power of the cross. St. Cyril of Jerusalem says that because Adam received the sentence of thorns and thistles, Jesus took the thorns on himself to cancel that sentence.

Thus the Second Adam wears the first Adam's curse as a crown. Our worldly anxieties, our lure for riches, and our cravings for other things pierce our minds. St. Gregory the Great says the Lord calls riches thorns because they pierce and wound the mind with worry. Christ gathers all of these and wears them as a crown, and it pierces his head. The streams of blood flowing from there wash away the thorns and thistles our flesh has produced, and open the gates of paradise again. "How much more will the blood of Christ… cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God" (Heb 9:14).

A call to change our soil

St. Augustine reminds us that the parable is not a fixed verdict but a call. While there is still time, we can change our soil: soften the path, clear the stones, pull up the thorns.

"Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted" (Mt 15:13). The Father planted the seed of the word. He did not plant the thorns. So we call on the fire of the Holy Spirit in the middle of our distractions, our worldly anxieties, and our cravings for other things.

We read, "For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:29), and "he will be like the refiner's fire… refining them like gold or silver" (Mal 3:2–3). This fire does not destroy the seed. It burns away what chokes it, prepares the soul, and preserves the seed so it can produce much fruit, "thirty and sixty and a hundredfold" (Mk 4:20).

Not every thorn is burned away. If the Lord leaves a thorn in our flesh, he will show us, and it becomes a call to rely on his grace more and more. St. Paul begged the Lord three times to remove his "thorn in the flesh." We still do not know exactly what that thorn was, but we know the Lord's answer: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:7–9).

St. John Paul II

On October 22, the memorial of St. John Paul II, we recall his call at the start of his pontificate to open wide the doors to Christ. When we open the doors of our hearts, Christ clears the thorns and makes room for his word to grow.

Ponder

• What are the thorns in your life right now: worries, work, money, or "other things"?

• What worry are you holding on to instead of casting it on him?

• How does seeing Christ wear your thorns as a crown change the way you look at your struggles?

• Where do you most need the fire of the Holy Spirit to burn away what chokes the word in you?

Closing prayer

Lord Jesus, Second Adam, you gathered the thorns our flesh has produced and wore them as your crown. Let the blood that flowed from your head wash away the thorns and thistles our flesh has produced. Teach us to cast all our cares on you. Come, Holy Spirit, consuming fire. Burn away what chokes your word in us, prepare the soil of our hearts, and preserve the seed so it may bear much fruit. St. John Paul II, pray for us. Amen.