If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.

A parable is a simple story, referring to something that gives deep, important and instructive lessons. It also uses an entire story to convey a spiritual lesson. It is easier for the listeners to remember a lesson from a story than for a long narrative that the listeners can easily forget.

“Why do you speak to the people in parables?”, was the question the disciples asked the Lord once when He preached to the people through the Parable of the Sower, (Matthew 13: 1-23), after which He said, “Whoever has ears let them hear.” This was the Lord’s answer to their question, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak with them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

Jesus used parables to explain the Kingdom of God like a landowner who went out early in the morning to find a laborer in his vineyard. (Matthew 20: 1-16)

Many of Jesus’ parables represent the daily life of the simple believer such as doing good to others, “The Parable of the Good Samaritan” (Luke 10: 29-37) showing love and compassion for one’s neighbor; the woman kneading bread, “The Parable of the Leaven” (Matthew 13: 33-34); the man knocking on his neighbor’s door at midnight, “The Parable of the Friend at Night” (Luke 11: 5-13) and the remorse of a child for the sin he had committed, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” ( Luke 15: 11-32) representing forgiveness. However, important religious matters such as the growth in faith, the importance of prayer and the meaning of love are also discussed. You can read the parables of Jesus Christ in the gospels of the Evangelists St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke.

You might be asking yourself the significance of the parables in your life? Jesus, through the parables, teaches us to understand the mystery of heaven which is not given to all because only those who has ears to hear, let them hear.