Readings: Isaiah 55:10-11, Ps 65, Rom. 8:18-23, Matt. 13:1-23
Fr. Emmanuel Onyia
EXPOSING HUMAN DISPOSITION AND RESPONSE TOWARDS THE WORD OF GOD
The second stanza of one of our great hymns titled Wonderful Words of Life, written by Philip Bliss in 1874, says:
Christ, the blessed One, gives to all
wonderful words of life;
sinner, listen to the loving call,
wonderful words of life;
all so freely given,
wooing us to heaven:
(Refrain: Beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life;
beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life).
This beautiful hymn provides a wonderful background for understanding today’s Gospel message, in which our Lord Jesus shares a great parable of the Sower and explains it to his disciples, as well as to all who are listening to him today.
Meanwhile, some of us who are into farming understand very well how a healthy seed blossoms on fertile soil. Little wonder Jesus chose to use this great farming metaphor to illustrate the relationship between the Word of God and the human heart. Because the Word of God is to the human heart what a healthy seed is to fertile soil.
In this parable, Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on a rocky ground where they found little soil and sprang up immediately, because there was no depth of soil; so as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away.
Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Listen, anyone who has ears!’
After explaining why he speaks in parables in reference to the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah about the hardness of the human heart, Jesus then explained the parable to his disciples, pointing out our different dispositions towards the Word of God in relation to our interior life.
Whether our soul is like dry rocky ground or whether we regularly seek to nourish our soul and prepare it to receive the holy Word of God. Thereby calling us to cultivate and create a fertile disposition within our heart to do the will of God.
Also, Jesus uses the parable of the sower to describe different kinds of responses to God's Word, for there are four obstacles that can distract us from making our hearts a fertile soil. These obstacles include: shallow-mindedness, a hardened heart, worldly desires and finally, trials and persecutions. Most people fall into some, if not all, of these obstacles.
For instance, those who are against the teachings of Jesus, the crowds that respond positively to Jesus, especially to his miracles of healing and feeding the people but did not want to be part of the sacrificial aspect of his teaching.
Those who behave like this have shallow minds, and the Word of God can not be sustained in their hearts when scorched by the heat of the heavy sun and storms of life. Those who harden their hearts can be likened to the people who have a disposition like the Pharisees, who refused to listen to Jesus and turned against him in the end and demanded his crucifixion.
The rich young man (Matt. 19:16-23), who was unable to part with his possessions, provides a clear example of people with the obstacle of worldly desires who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.
And finally, those who have trials and persecutions become an obstacle to the Word of God in their hearts. These are people who fall away when trials or persecution arise on account of the Word, such as Judas, and many people fall in this category in our society today.
But what about the good soil? These are those who made their hearts a fertile soil through love and purity of heart, which helped them to hear the Word of God and understand it, and indeed bear fruit and yield an abundant harvest of a hundred, sixty and thirty folds. Our Mother Mary is a good example of such people. Therefore, the different kinds of ground on which the seed falls represent the different ways in which we receive the Word of God.
Dear friends, today Jesus Christ gives us all the wonderful and beautiful Words of life, wooing us to heaven, are we disposed to letting his word blossom in our souls? Remember, our hearts are the fields in which the Word of God is scattered; to which do our hearts belong: the pathway, the rocky ground, the thorns or the good soil? Whichever one, we are called to pay attention and take some time to appreciate and dispose our hearts more, so that God’s Word may find a root in us.
For prophet Isaiah told us in our first reading today, that as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word of God in our hearts does not return to God empty, without carrying out the will of God and succeeding in what it was sent to do in our soul, when we are well dispose to receive it.
And St. Paul in our second reading tells us that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory that is yet to be revealed, which is waiting for us, as the whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal to his sons and daughters the wonderful and beautiful Words of life which Christ His blessed One gives to us today and wooing us to his Heavenly Kingdom.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, each and every one of us have received the seeds of your Word; give us grace to remain open to receiving your Word, so that it will blossom in our souls and bear fruit abundantly, through Christ our Lord. Amen. May God bless and guide you always
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