Readings: Isaiah 55:10-11; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23
The Word of God is Alive and Effective
1. Today Jesus tells us a parable of a sower who went out to sow his seed and the four types of soil that received the seed. The sower is God, who created us out of love and planted the seed of faith in our hearts. “It was not you chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will endure.” (Jn. 15:16). God’s gift is bestowed on us gratuitously. It is a free gift – a blessing and grace completely unmerited. If we cooperate with God’s gift of faith, we will be changed and transformed. The soil stands for the different hearts that receive God’s word. Each person must accept or reject God’s offer of grace.
2. There are many reasons why we do not respond to God’s gift of grace. In the first reading, Isaiah the prophet, pleads with the captives in Babylon. He assured them that God would bring them out of bondage, after years in captivity, to their homeland in God’s own time. Many of them doubted. They gave in to despondency and despair and turned their backs to God. So, Isaiah compared the word of God to the rain and the snow that have the power to keep the world green and alive. God is true to his promises, which will come true in its time. “Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.” (Habakkuk 2:2-4). God’s word came true indeed. After roughly 50 years in exile, the children of Israel were liberated by the Persians, who destroyed the Babylonian empire, and allowed them to return home. Like Isaiah compared the word of God to rain and snow, Jesus compares God’s word today to the seed planted by the sower.
3. The way we react to the word of God is, sometimes, determined by our socio-cultural environments. At times, we allow situations, to affect the way we respond to God’s grace? According to St Paul, in the second reading, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” Being aware of human suffering, Paul tells us to imagine the human and created world as being involved in one giant act of giving birth, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains.” Then he added, “We ourselves…grown inwardly while we wait for… the redemption of our bodies.” Paul believed redemption would take place in the kingdom of God on a day when all people would see themselves as adopted children of God. The word of God will help us to achieve this goal. For “Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17). Therefore, we must be disposed and willing to put his word into practice. Hence the story of the sower.
4. The parable presents us with four responses to the generosity of the sower. Note that in only one case was the word rejected outright. In the other three cases it was received with joy. The problem is not in receiving the word, but in treasuring and putting it into practice. Thus, there are different ways of accepting God’s word, and the fruit which it produces depends on the heart of him who accepts it. The fate of any spoken word depends on the hearer. (a) The seed on the path are those who lack the moral disposition necessary for true conversion? They hear the word without understanding. They ask no questions and have no time to study what they do not understand. As soon as they received the word they cast it by the wayside. They allow pride and prejudice to shut the word from their hearts. They are unteachable and blind to the fact that they do not know. They harden their hearts and close their eyes to the truth and turn their back to the word. As birds feast on seed, so does the devil feast on their weak faith and snatch the word from their fickle hearts. (b) The second seed falls on rocky ground that has little soil. Here one may profess faith in the Lord, but such spirituality is shallow and superficial. These persons are emotional and are swept off their feet as soon as they hear the word. They fail to think things out and think them through. They are at the mercy of every new and crazy idea. Their lives are littered with things they began and never finished. When this attitude is applied to the word of God, one is faced with a disaster. They mistake emotional attraction for a deep faith. No one lives on emotion. We have minds and it is a moral obligation to have an intelligent faith. Christianity has it demands, and these demands must be faced before it be accepted. The Christian offer is not only a privilege, it is also a responsibility. A sudden enthusiasm can always so quickly become a dying fire.
5. (c) The third seed fails to grow because thorns choke it to death. Here is someone who cannot let go and let God rule his life. In his order of priorities, God does not rank very high. Prestige, power, possession, and pride take precedence. This person has so many interests in life that skewed his priorities completely. He is too busy to pray, too preoccupied with material things, with family life, work, business and other social activities in the community. Reading the bible or finding time for spiritual things becomes a distraction. And going to Mass is an interruption or at best a disturbance of his Sunday schedule. He may be so involved in committees and good works of charitable services that leaves him no time for himself or for God. He is so involved in the work of the Lord that he forgets the Lord of the work. We must be careful not to block God out of our busy lives. (d) The fourth seed sprouts and produces a rich harvest. The word of God penetrates into a person’s entire being and permeates his whole existence. The yield is bountiful in love and compassion, in honesty and simple lifestyle, and concern for the dejected and the downtrodden. This person has an open mind; he is willing to learn and prepared to listen. He is never too proud or too busy to listen and to learn. He understands the importance of taking advice and counsel of wise friends and knows the value of a good spiritual reading. He translates what he hears into action and produces the good fruit of the good seed. Four seeds, one sower. The real hearers are those who listen, who understand and who obey. They yield a harvest through their perseverance.
6. Today’s readings call us to action. They remind us that God’s word will bear fruit abundantly regardless of how it is received. His word has power and can help us live better lives. “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrows, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.” (Heb. 4:12-13). Let us pray that we may “be doers of the word and not hears only.” Amen.
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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