Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In my hands I have my Bible. This Bible was not a gift. I purchased this Bible about three years into my seminary life. I saved money for six months to purchase it. After my initial conversion from being a nominal Catholic to a more serious Catholic, God’s word became my passion. Part of my initial conversion was the realization that my primary call was not merely to be a priest but first and foremost to be a disciple. And the question I struggled with was, “Who is a disciple?” If Jesus were to call me like he did the disciples, what would he want from me? To understand this, I delved into the gospels and later into the whole Bible like a child into a cookie jar. And if you glance through my Bible, you will see that it is highlighted in rainbow colors. This Bible is twenty-eight years old. It was in tatters and falling apart. I wanted to replace this old one with a new one but I soon realized that this Bible was not just another book. This Bible represented my conversion, my faith journey, my life and my relationship with God. This Bible was not something, it was somebody. In many ways, this Bible was a Sacrament, the real presence of God through God’s word. Knowing how dear this Bible was to me, a very dear friend of mine got is restored. Today, I take the Bible on all my retreats, classes and seminars. This Bible is not my book. This Bible is my best friend.
Today, we have two readings that focus almost entirely on the Word of God. The first reading from Isaiah speaks about the purposefulness of God’s word and in the parable of the sower and the seed, Jesus talks about the sowers seed that falls on various types of soils. The seed as we understand it is the Word of God and the soil is the hearers. Or is it? In my three points today, I would like to explore the parable and its implications for us.
a) The Parable is about the Generosity of God. The Palestinian way of farming differs from ours. Perhaps because of the lack of modern equipment and because of the lack of the ability to hire a large number of laborers, the average Palestinian farmer’s farming process was different than ours. We plough the field before sowing the seed. The Palestinian famer would first scatter the seed and then plough the field so the seed is then worked into the soil. When the farmer scattered the seed before ploughing, some seeds fill on the little paths farmers used to access the fields, some among the bushes that surrounded the farms, some the birds ate before the farmer could come and plough, and some actually made it into the best part of the farmer’s plot of land. This farming imagery works in favor of Jesus parable because it means that the word of God is available to all. The seed falls not only in specific places but even where it may not necessarily provide a return.
This is not the only parable in scripture that indicates God’s generosity. Today’s first reading suggests that God’s word is like rain of snow that falls on everybody. Even though Isaiah’s image is meant to tell us that just like rain or snow accomplish their purpose and that God’s words are also purposeful and meaningful, this imagery fills me with hope. I am a sinner too and I feel hopeful that God continues to speak to me. I feel encouraged that God does not abandon me. This is the same message of another passage in Matthew where Jesus says, “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” Every time we are inclined deny people our generosity based on race, ethnicity, gender, class, status or sexual orientation, let us remember that God is a generous God who lets God’s goodness rain on us all. God abounds in generosity and kindness.
b) This parable captures a situation in the early Christian Church – the fact that Christ had been rejected by people. Not only when Matthew wrote his gospel but also in Jesus’ life time, the life and message of Jesus was rejected by many Jews. This parable captures the various stands the people took is relation to Jesus. Some outright rejected him like the seed that feel on the path; some were attracted to Jesus but failed to make a commitment to him like the seeds that fell of thorny places. My focus, however, is on how Jesus ends the parable. Jesus ends by saying, “But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” In other words, in spite of the massive rejection of Christ in his lifetime, faith grew exponentially after his resurrection. Some seeds did fall on fertile soil and bore fruit. In our time too, it is not uncommon for Christ to be rejected. But to focus on the rejection of Christ is to focus on the wrong thing. Rather, our focus should be on bearing fruit. Let us evaluate our own relationship with God’s word. Do we read and hear God’s word each day? Do we pray and reflect upon it? Do we love God’s word and live by it? Is our life bearing fruit? How much fruit are we bearing? Thirty fold? Sixty fold? A Hundred fold?
c) Why does Jesus speak in parables? When the disciples asked Jesus “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Jesus replied, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.” I understand Jesus’ answer to mean that the parables are not merely stories with a twist or a moral. Parables are about a pedagogy – a method of teaching and learning. Parables by their nature invite us look deeper and only the one who wants to go deeper will go beyond the parable. Only the one who goes deeper will see their lives change. Only the one who goes deeper will enter into a relationship with the Word of God. So let us indeed go a little deeper. In today’s parable there is a subtle shift that can almost go unnoticed. In the first part of the parable, the seed seems to be an object that falls on the ground. And for most part we understand the seed to be God’s word and the various kinds of soils to be our hearts and minds. But when Jesus explained the parable to disciples in private, suddenly, the seed is not the merely word of God but the believers transformed by the Word. Jesus says, “The seed sown on the path is the one, and the seed sown on rocky ground is the one, and so on. The transition from the seed being something to the seed being someone is a huge transition. In other words, each one of us is the soil and the seed at the same time. God wants to enter into the deepest relationship with us by becoming ingrained in our lives but then God also wants to use us in the same way that a farmer uses the seed. What kind of soil are we? What kind of seeds are we? And in all this, do we live out the generosity of God?
We have just heard God’s Word proclaimed. In a few moments from now, the Word will become flesh. As we receive the body and blood of Christ let us allow our lives to be transformed by the Word made flesh. May our transformation lead us to be Word for the world. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph