Wednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
My friend is a gardener. He comes from a family of gardeners, and knows a lot about planting seasons, types of seeds, the effect of climate, soil quality. Their large vegetable gardens are a frequent topic of conversation among my friend, his parents, and his brother. His brother lives in Mississippi and is able to grow lush fruits and vegetables year-round with incredible yield, supplying many “farm to table” restaurants in his area. Here in Ohio, obviously, the growing seasons are more defined and specific; sowing and harvesting at the proper time and in ripe conditions becomes extremely important. Plant your garlic by All Saints Day and harvest it on the Feast of St Luke (4th of July)! The people of Jesus’ time were largely agrarian and lived according to the seasons. They knew a lot about sowing and reaping because their lives depended on it. Jesus’ parable today invites us into this realm of seeds, growing conditions, and crop yield. Let’s enter into Jesus’ parable and reflect upon the soil conditions of our souls. Our spiritual lives depend on it.
Jesus tells his parable and then announces, Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear. He goes on to explain the parable because his followers struggled to hear and understand. Holy Spirit, come, and open the ears of our hearts to what you want to communicate to each of us this day. Remove our spiritual deafness, God.
Jesus explains his parable like this: our Lord sows the Word of God; people’s hearts and souls are at different stages of receptivity.
|
Types of People |
Result/Yield |
|
Hard Path |
People hear the Word, but Satan comes and steals it away |
|
Rocky, Shallow |
People receive the Word with joy, but because they lack roots the sprouts quickly wither; enduring hardship is particularly difficult; easy to fall away from the faith when times are tough |
|
Thorn Bushes |
People hear the Word, but they are distracted by worries, anxiety, and the pursuit of worldly wealth and other material distractions |
|
Rich, Fertile |
People hear and receive the Word and they grow and mature into fruitful plants; each of us bears fruit according to where we are on our journey |
Notice that Jesus addresses the explanation to his followers. As his disciples today, we can ask ourselves, which type of soil am I? I imagine we each see ourselves in more than one category from time to time. I greatly value our parish’s commitment to radical discipleship and appreciate all the ways Fr. Satish and the Staff and leaders intentionally create opportunities for us to grow and mature toward becoming rich, fertile soil for the Word of God. Let us take time today to search deep within to do some “soil testing” to determine what kind of soil we are at this point in time. In my experience, I’ve found it’s easy to plateau in one’s faith when the soil conditions are rocky or thorny. Am I hardened, stuck, or growing? Let’s ask our Lord to help us nurture the soil of our hearts, fertilizing it, tending it, cultivating it so that we can grow in our receptivity to God’s Word and become fruitful disciples. May the world see and be drawn to God’s love by the fruit we bear. It starts with the right kind of soil conditions. Along the way, let us also be open moment-by-moment to opportunities to be the farmer, cooperating with the One who sows the seed. Give us wisdom and courage today, God, to sow the seed of your Word through our words and our actions. Come, Lord Jesus.
- Elizabeth Wourms