Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Parables was one of the most brilliant strategies that Jesus used to teach his disciples the truths of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ parables were even more meaningful because he used imageries and analogies from daily life to compose these parables. Thus, the parable of the “Sower and the Seed” draws heavily from the Palestinian agrarian life. It is one of richest parables in the gospels.
Parables by nature are open ended. We can draw multiple meanings from a single parable. For that matter, a parable never runs out of meanings. Let me draw at least three meanings from the parable of the Sower and the Seed.
A Parable about God’s Generosity
To draw out the first meaning of the parable of the Sower and the Seed, we must understand the agrarian practices of Jesus’ time. Scripture scholars tell us that there is a surprise element in the way Jesus narrated the parable. In his parable, the seeds fell on various kinds of soils. In real life, this did not happen with a Palestinian farmer. The average Palestinian farmer was poor. He did not have seeds to waste. The farmer would be very careful that the seeds fell only on fertile soil that had been carefully prepared. Moreover, because the Palestinian farmer did not use machinery but rather sowed the seeds with his hands, he would be careful to let the seeds fall on ground that would be yield optimum fruit.
The seeds falling on various kinds of soils in an insight into the generosity of God. In another teaching in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says that God makes the rain fall and the sun shine on the good and bad, the just and the unjust alike. In other words, the seeds falling on different kinds of soils means that God is accessible to all kinds of people. We are all in a different place in life. Our relationship with God is not all the same. It could range from exceptional to desirable. But God is available and accessible to all. God is generous with God’s word, gifts, and graces.
Today in this church here, there as many kinds of soils as there are people. In this very moment, God’s word is falling on all kinds of soils. God has made no distinction between any of us. God is a good God. God is a generous God.
A Parable about Human Generosity
There is a second meaning within the parable. A Palestinian farmer, because he sowed each seed carefully, expected the optimum yield from these seeds. This is even more true with God’s word. God’s word is creative. God’s word has intentionality. God’s word is purposeful. In today’s first reading from Isaiah God says, “My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” Just as farmer does not sow seeds without expecting a yield, God’s word is meant to be fruitful.
Here, I would like to draw the second meaning in today’s parable. In the same say that God’s generosity is intentional and purposeful, humans must be intentionally and purposefully generous. Human generosity is seen in the fruit that the seed (God’s word) bears in the human person. The parable tells us that the expectation is that the seeds bear fruit – a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold.
Jesus’ word invites us to pray. I hope that the seed has found good soil in us and we are generously bearing fruit. The same can be said about Jesus words inviting us to love each other as He has loved us, or to forgive those who have sinned against us, or to give without cost because we have received without cost, or to be the salt of the earth and light of the world. May the word find fertile soil in us and may we generously bear fruit.
A Parable About Creation
The Church places today’s second reading from Romans along with the parable of the Sower and the Seed. Paul says, “For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:18-22).
Considering today’s second reading, there is a contemporary message for us in the parable of the Sower and the Seeds – the place of creation in human and salvation history. There are two things to consider.
First, creation itself is the fruit of God’s word. God said, “Let there be light and there was light” (Gen 1:3). Creation is a sacrament of God. In other words, creation is the visible sign of the power, the wisdom, the beauty, the goodness, and the generosity of God. Creation is also an integral part of Christ’s redemptive mission.
Unfortunately, today we stand at a crossroad when it comes to the care of God’s creation. I want to read the opening paragraph of by Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si. He says,“Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air, and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.”
Let me draw a practical implication from today’s parable. Purely from an agricultural perspective, we must come to the realization if we do not take care of creation it is going to affect farmers and farming across the globe. In fact, this is already happening. It will lead to famine, hunger, death, and destruction. From a theological perspective, creation is integral to salvation history. We care about creation because in doing so we show reverence to God the Creator. Moreover, in caring for creation, we become part of the Christ’s redeeming and saving mission. As Paul says, “Creation itself would be set free… and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:19). We are not saved apart from creation. Creation is saved along with us. The practical implication, then, is simple. We must care for God creation both for our sake and God’s sake.
In conclusion, let me suggest a link between the Parable of the Sower and Seed and this Eucharist. The offertory prayer at every Eucharist says, “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread/wine we offer you: fruit of the earth/the vine and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life/our spiritual drink.” God is addressed as the “God of all creation.” The bread and wine we place on the altar come from seed that is sown, the seed that bears fruit because of the soil, the sunlight, the water, and the air; the fruit that is harvested; and the harvest that is made into bread and wine by the work of human hands. Without creation and without the work of human hands the Eucharist would not be possible. The “God of all creation” then takes the “fruit of the earth/wine” and the “work of human hands” and transforms them into the “bread of life” and “spiritual drink”.
As we celebrate this Eucharist and receive the Body and Blood of Christ, may our lives bear generous fruit – thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. May our “God of all creation” make our lives become the very Eucharist we celebrate.