Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 23, 2017 - Saturday in the 24th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Tim 6:13-16 and Luke 8:4-15]"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. Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold." After saying this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear." [Luke]
SEPTEMBER 23 ST. PIUS OF PIETRELCINA ofm.cap. (Padre Pio)
I live in a part of Texas that is highly agricultural, with cotton the major crop, followed by sorghum grain and wine grapes(!). The orderly rows of crops stretch as far as the eye can see since this is a semi-arid climate with lots of wind and few trees. These fields are cultivated using huge machinery with satellite guided precision! The rather haphazard farming methods of first century Palestine, described by Jesus in his parable, would seem quite strange here, but they were well known to Jesus' audience and to the audience for which Luke composed his gospel portrait of Jesus. The concern of the community, however, is the same concern our own community has. Why is evangelization so difficult? Why doesn't everyone receive the word of Christ and produce fruit a hundredfold? Jesus provides an explanation of the parable that essentially points to the various conditions confronting both farmer and seed!
The old real estate mantra comes to my mind: "Location, location, location." Where the seed falls in this parable determines its success. Yet, knowing that some of the seed will never make it to maturity should not stop the farmer from sowing. The farmer has to learn from experience which areas of the field are likely to produce well and therefore avoid wasting precious seed. This takes wisdom. All of us carry the seed bag of faith with us. Our general witness to Christ can be seen by all different kinds of people, but not everyone is going to be attracted to our faith, even if they admire us as good people. We may not know how our conduct is going to impact. In some soils, the seed will take longer to sprout. The important thing is to take the parable to heart and continue to sow and share the seed wherever we are. AMEN
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