Gospel of 12 July
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 13:1-23
A sower went out to sow
Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables.
He said, ‘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 patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth; but 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!’
Then the disciples went up to him and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’ ‘Because’ he replied, ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them. For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:
“You will listen and listen again, but not understand, see and see again, but not perceive. For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be convertedand be healed by me.
‘But happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
‘You, therefore, are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’
Reflexion
Today, many preachers may choose to skip the homily. The congregation has already been treated to a lengthy gospel passage and our Lord seems to have done an excellent job in unpacking his own teaching, which leaves little room for us mortal preachers to expand upon it. Furthermore, it’s the familiar parable of the Sower. We would be hard pressed to find someone in the audience who has never heard this parable or who is unfamiliar with its meaning. Here are the essential elements – the sower, the seeds and the four types of soil.
The problem with our text and most other translations is that the word “seed” does not appear anywhere in the original Greek version. It is simply added in by the translators. In the Greek, Jesus simply says that a sower went out to sow, and “some” fell to the ground. In other words, Jesus is saying the sower is definitely sowing, but what exactly he is sowing is left vague. Translators only assume that it is seed since that is what you would typically expect sowers to sow. That isn’t an illogical assumption. By filling in the blanks, the translators do not allow the reader the luxury to figure out exactly what mysterious thing is the sower doing.
So what is this “some” or “seed”? In verse 19, our Lord reveals that the seed is the “word of the kingdom.” It is the “Logos.” Remember that the “word” or the “Logos” is not a thing. It is a person - Jesus Christ is the Word Incarnate. If the “Sower” is Christ, and the seed-word is Christ, then the “Sower” is sowing Himself.
Pope Benedict said that this parable is a sort of autobiography of Jesus; it was how He was already living out His mission and ministry. Christ gives Himself freely and abundantly to all, even in the face of rejection and indifference. He is the seed that falls into the ground and dies. Rejected by so many, He finally emerges victorious over death and His enemies, and His victory bears fruit aplenty in the Church. And the amazing thing is that He accomplished all of this whilst respecting the freedom of His audience. The parable is a story of Jesus!
Pope Benedict writes, "God does not force us to believe in Him, but draws us to Himself through the truth and goodness of His incarnate Son. Love, in fact, always respects freedom." Freedom is the basis of our relationship with God. Freedom allows us to make a response to the gift of the Word, to choose between accepting the Word or rejecting it. Human freedom helps us to understand the different kinds of responses to Christ and His message. This is what we see in the parable. We have the well-trodden path of the hardened heart; the rocky ground of those who look for instant gratification but are weak in making commitments; then, there's the thorny ground where the heart is overtaken by too many other distractions. All of these are definite blocks to the reception of the gospel and yet, the sower is not daunted and he continues to sow without hesitation or regret.
In the parable, the sower is throwing seed everywhere, even in places where the seed has little chance to grow. The good news is that the Word, Jesus Christ Himself, is offered to all and sundry, the good and the bad, the excited and the indifferent, the pious and the impious. It’s a beautiful reminder that Christ never tires and He never gives up sowing in our lives even though He has to contend with the garden of our hearts overgrown with debris, weeds, thorns and rocks. He patiently waits for our response.
How can we respond? How can we make a deeper commitment to His Word so that it can yield a good harvest? “Seeing” Christ in His sacraments and “hearing” His Word are important. But we can’t and we shouldn’t stop here. So many see but do not perceive and others listen but do not hear. Seeing and hearing Christ are truly laudable but they are not enough to guarantee lasting happiness. Seeing and hearing must lead to following. This is because the Word is not just a text to be studied, but a person to be imitated and followed. Christians are not People of the Book as Muslims would call us or as Protestants would profess. We are People of the Living, Dynamic Word who became flesh and dwelt among us and left us a lasting sign and memorial of His presence in the Blessed Sacrament. For only a heartfelt response to this Living Word to allow His message to take root and transform us can ultimately yield a bountiful harvest.