A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
The sower is again planting his seed in our hearts. How do we respond when it is in the form of a familiar parable? Does it actually get inside of us or does it stay on the surface to be consumed by the birds of the sky?
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
These words of Jesus sound so familiar that we sometimes fail to realize that they have more to offer, more to teach, and more fruit to bear. Looking at them we won't immediately recognize their value until we invite the Holy Spirit to help us. He is the living water that prevents them from withering for lack of moisture. When we invite him to help us we might not have an obvious new insight, but the word will nevertheless take root within us. We will begin to bear fruit, even without realizing the direct connection to the way in which we welcome the word, which is in fact the cause.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
If we let the world determine our focus we will focus on the things that make us anxious and the things that excite our excessive desires for riches and pleasures of life. None of these pursuits offer the fruits of joy or peace. In them the word will not have the space it needs to grow.
As Christians we continue to receive seeds sown by the sower. But we have the choice of what sort of soil we will be for that seed. It is not just those who have never received the word that need to heed these cautionary examples. It is we ourselves who perhaps think that the seed is already securely planted that need to pay attention so we don't miss the new grace that the sower is offering on this day.
If we receive the word as it really is, not as the word of man, but as the word of God (see First Thessalonians 2:13), we will be the good soil we are meant to be. We will treasure the word and not allow the devil to steal it. We will invite the Holy Spirit to water it so that its roots may grow within us. We will uproot the thorns and weeds that try to suffocate the weed, even if doing so necessitates some strenuous gardening, even if it means breaking up the soil, which we perceive to be ourselves, to remove the foreign elements that ultimately do not serve us.
The way we become rich soil, able to embrace the word with a generous and good heart, is to let the word itself transform us. Even this familiar parable, read with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, actually does purify our soil. This is what it means that the word is living and active (see Hebrews 4:12). It isn't just a philosophical strategy for fixing ourselves. It itself contains the grace to heal us.
The more we let the sower work in us the more able we will be to entrust ourselves completely to him when our very lives our the seeds to be sown for immortality.
What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.
And what you sow is not the body that is to be
but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.
We often look at the various forms of seeds, unimpressed. Progress is made when we begin to realize that what is in the seed is hidden. We begin to trust in the plans of sower and the effectiveness of his Spirit. How can we bear good fruit? How can we ever be made fit for heaven? Jesus himself is the one who gives these gifts.
the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
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