Unless you haven’t had
your coffee yet, or your mind was on something else, it would be a normal
response to today’s readings, particularly the Gospel, for you to say I’ve
heard this 20 or 30 times before. Maybe
you’ve even read it to your children a number of times. So why does the church continue to proclaim
the same readings over and over again?
Well it’s because these readings are about you, about me and because
most people need to hear something at least six or seven times before it sticks
in their brains. The church also
proclaims the scriptures over and over again because they are the word of God,
and they are alive, and if we are willing listeners, we might learn something
new about ourselves, maybe even something new about God. So let me tell you some things about today’s
Gospel that you may already know.
When Jesus tells the
parable of the Sower, the focus is on God as the sower and us as the soil. In today’s reading, Jesus first talks about
the sower spreading the seed all over the place and then He goes on to explain
what the parable means. The parable is
intended to challenge us to think about what type of soil we are and whether or
not we will allow the seed, God’s words to take root in us.
Jesus explains to us that the Sower casts the seed all around and
on to different types of soil. Depending on where it falls, it may or may not
take root, grow, and bear fruit.
You see first century farmers didn’t have John Deere machinery or
even a Scott’s lawn spreader to broadcast seed.
They tossed it by hand. They
would usually walk in a straight line and swing their arms across their bodies
casting the seed to the left, in front of them, and to the right. If they were walking near a foot path or
road, the seed would fall on to the hard ground. And because the dirt on the path was packed
down and hard, the seeds falling there didn’t have time to take root, before
the birds would quickly come along and either eat them or carry them off. Jesus says this represents the unreceptive
hearer, the person whose heart is packed down or has become so hardened that it
doesn’t even occur to them that this is God speaking to them and they don’t even
try to understand it. People whose
hearts and minds are like this might even respond with hostility, though more
often than not their response is one of indifference. And with these types of attitudes, the devil
easily enters in to neutralize the message using deception and lies, and distracting
the hearer from seriously considering it.
In the recesses of the person’s mind they hear, “It’s not important”. “It won’t make any difference in your life”. “You need to look out for #1”.
Then there is the seed
that falls on soil that is rocky. This
symbolizes the insincere listener. The
seed is planted, the message is received joyfully at first, but it doesn’t take
root deep in the heart. This type of person may have a positive response to
what they’ve heard, but doesn’t really accept it as truth to be followed,
rather it may be just a means to get other things they want. People with hearts and minds like rocky soil want
the emotional experience that will entertain them without having to change the
direction of their lives. Then when the
buzz wears off, or when an experience which is more stimulating comes along,
Jesus is pushed to the side. This
happens sometimes to people who have a powerful experience while on retreat,
but can’t sustain what they felt after they get home. Others may appear to be open and receive the
word because they want to please their family, or hang on to friends or lovers
whom they sense they are losing to Jesus. But when this doesn’t work, their faith in
Jesus evaporates.
The seed among the thorns represents the hearer who is
compromised. Seed sown among the thorns
or weeds will germinate and remain alive, but the weeds or thorns suck the life
giving nutrients out of the plant so it can no longer produce fruit. This
is the compromised hearer. They’ve
sincerely received the word, accepted Jesus, and know they are genuinely
believe that, they are a Christian. They seemed to have a close relationship with
Jesus and for a while He was changing their life and was working through them
to bring others closer to Christ? But now
it is just a faded memory. Yea, they may
still say a prayer daily, attend church fairly regularly, even have a Christian
bumper sticker on their car, but if they are honest with themselves, they know
that the experience of closeness with God and his power to transform their life
has withered. Why? Jesus says that his word in our hearts can
wither when there are worldly things competing for our hearts. Things like an over emphasis on pleasure and
comfort; getting overloaded with time
consuming things like spending too many hours at work, or an over the top
devotion to sports and hobbies, all to the exclusion of feeding and nurturing
their relationship with God. Sadly, the
world offers any number of opportunities to take us away from God or to keep us
from thinking about Him.
And of course then there is the good soil which represents the
hearts and minds of those who have heard God’s word, have reflected on it and
understand it. They let it take deep
root inside them where the outside world can’t touch it and cause it to wilt or
wither. This is the person who
constantly tills the soil of their heart with prayer, sacraments, and good works.
So the seed of God’s word falls in many different types of soil,
and many people will fall into of the categories of listeners we
described. And while we would like to
think that our hearts and minds are in the good soil category, if we are truly
honest with ourselves, there have been different times in our lives when our
hearts could be compared to any of the soils or soil conditions I’ve
described. We don’t always listen as we
should. We need to be constantly working to keep our hearts as fertile ground
where God can plant his word in us so that it will be able to sink deep roots. So this is the meaning of the parable, and it
may be that you are saying to yourself, I’ve heard this all before. But
the message of the parable does not stop here.
What’s interesting is that the sower cast or broadcasted the seed
all over the place. He didn’t toss it only
on the good soil but purposely and intentionally he also tossed it on the
rocks, thorns, and weeds. So why is this
important? Well the Gospel is not just for those who are receptive, those who
are ready, those that are easy to witness to.
What Jesus is telling us today is that we too are called to be sowers
and not just to those who are ready to listen.
We are called to sow the seed of the Gospel to everyone regardless of
whether they are ready to receive the message or not, because God can work the
soil of people’s hearts, watering it and tilling it so that it becomes fertile
ground where his word can take root even in those we would think unlikely to
accept it.
This past week, our youth and adult volunteers along with Fr.
Jason, Deacon Jerry, and our Youth Minister, Cat, got the opportunity to be
sowers of God’s word and God’s love by repairing and renovating the homes of
the poor in Appalachia. And one fact I
remember about the area where we served and where our youth this week served is
that only about 3% of the population in that area was Catholic. Most if not all of the people who were helped
this week and in years past were not Catholic, and I couldn’t tell you if they
were even Christian. But what a
wonderful witness of the love and caring of the Catholic Church. What a wonderful seedbed in which to sow the love
and caring of God. And you know it
doesn’t matter what type of soil our youth were casting seed on this week. Because of their willingness to invest their
energy and their joy in helping those in need, the Lord’s word was planted
there and I have no doubt that it made a big difference the lives of the people
they met because God has told us so.
Remember the words of the Prophet Isaiah from our first reading; Thus says the LORD: “Just as from the heavens the rain
and snow come down and do not return
there till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my
word shall not return to me void, but
shall do my will, achieving the end for
which I sent it.
We are soil and we are sowers. It’s up to each of us to work daily to prepare our own hearts
to be fertile soil where the seed of God’s word can take root and grow so that
we in turn can be sowers, casting the seed of God’s word about, confident that
wherever it lands, God can cultivate it, fertilize it, and nurture it so that it produces much fruit.
