Sunday Readings in Brief

15^th Sunday A

Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalms 64(65); Rom 8:18-23; Mt 13:1-23

The seed of faith

Dear friends, today is one of the few times that Jesus is explaining the meaning of a parable to his disciples. The other parable that Jesus explains to the disciples is the parable of the weeds that we will read next Sunday.

In this passage, we have a number of things to analyze and take into consideration. We’re told that the sower went out to sow seeds. We imagine that the seeds were of the same quality and in one basket. However, the seeds fell on different terrains with different soil and conditions. Therefore depending on the quality of the soil and its disposition to receive the seeds, different outcomes were obtained.

Jesus himself explains that there is one type of soil that did not even allow the seed to germinate. This is the dry beaten path without any depth to let the word penetrate. Therefore the word doesn’t have the slightest chance of germinating. The birds of the air saw it lying there and picked it up and ate it. This is what the evil one does to us when we listen to the word and do not allow it to penetrate our hearts that are so hardened like a beaten path. The seed that fell on rocky terrain, germinated quickly but because of lack of depth the roots cannot obtain enough nutrients hence the young stock dries up. This is probably because the tilling – catechesis was only shallow. Today many parents want their children to receive sacraments but do not allow them to attend catechism classes. The youth want to get married but do not want to receive marriage instructions. Adults want to be baptized but do not want to follow all the stages of the catechumenate. The results of this are very obvious, we have many baptized but very few authentic followers of Jesus.

The seeds that fell on thorny terrain are probably the majority of Christians today. Faith is a new way of life that must replace our old way of life. The catechetical period must be thorough enough to convince the candidate to abandon the old ways and embrace the new. If this is not done properly, the thorns of this life will choke the young faith to death. These thorns include trials and persecution from relatives, friends, agemates, business interests, juicy deals, traditions, customs, etc. that do allow the values of faith to stand.

The seed that fell on the rich soil had all the conditions to support the growth and bearing of fruits. And as it is, each seed gave fruits according to its capacity. The question here is not about the quantity of fruits but the very fact that they all gave fruits. This is the scenario that is expected in the community of believers, each one must bear fruits according to the capacity given to him or her by the creator. Each one has got different talents and gifts. If we all bear fruits our society will be transformed.

In today’s first reading, God tells the prophet Isaiah that his words are like the rain which once it pours from heaven does not return without causing the growth of the crops to provide food for the hungry. Our lack of disposition to receive the word of God and let it give fruits in our lives does not frustrate the plans of God. There will always be those that will receive it and as Jesus told the Pharisees who rejected the son of Man, we who refuse to embrace the word fully will miss out big time.

There are people who are misled to believe that they can frustrate the mission of the Gospel by withdrawing their support and participation in the Church. Let me try to put things in perspective for us: If you put all the people in the world (almost eight billion of them) together and take a bird’s-view image and try to locate Mr. or Miss. so and so, you realize how small any one of us is to think that we can frustrate the Gospel. In fact, we are the ones who become frustrated and miserable when we refuse to embrace and live the values of the faith demanded of us by the virtue of the baptism we received.

Dear friends, as we reflect on these words today, I want to remind us that cultivating the seed of faith we received through baptism and other sacraments is doing a big favor to ourselves. Those who have been misled to think that practicing faith is out of fashion, are missing out big time. Let us sit and reflect upon the advantages of practicing faith and compare them with the disadvantages of abandoning it and make a wise decision.

Have a fruitful Sunday.

Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD