Word to the Wise
Wednesday, July 20, 2016 - Wednesday in the 16th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jer 1:1, 4-10 and Matt 13:1-9]"A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold." [Matthew]
The parable of the seed and the sower had great relevance for Jesus' audience when he delivered it (from a floating boat, no less) because many would have been subsistence farmers and because the method of sowing was to throw the seed on the ground without plowing first. The relevance, however, changes a bit when Jesus explains the parable later on in the same chapter in verses 18-23. (I recommend reading the explanation now because the lectionary will not provide it soon!) Scripture scholars seem to think the explanation was provided by the evangelist to help the community understand the mixed results of their efforts.
As someone who has been in full time pastoral work for 45 years, I am well aware of those mixed results. One very good application appears in the kinds of human relationships we have (even if that is not the principal thrust of the parable). Some encounters are just superficial. Some result in conversation that is promising but there is no depth and the relationship goes nowhere. Some relationships go well as long as there are no "thorns" of disagreement or conflict of values and then they fail because of these conflcts. Last but certainly not least, there are the relationships that take root and bear fruit. Faith is like that. It is our relationship with God. How would our relationship be described in terms of this parable? Have we been through any or all of the four kinds of results? And if we are doing some evangelization ourselves, how do we react to the mixed results? Seed and sower and soil alike are part of God's creation. We do what we can to get things going. God will provide the increase. AMEN
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