Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 23, 2023 - Saturday in the 24th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Tim 6:13-16 and Luke 8:4-15]When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable. "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 PIETRALCINA [Padre Pio]
One of the figures in American cultural folklore is Johnny Appleseed, based on the life of an American Protestant itinerant preacher named John Chapman, who introduced apple seeds and plants as part of his mission in the northeast and middle west of the USA in the 19th century. Legends grew around his mission so that he is often seen as scattering apple seeds all over the place. He was, however, a skilled nurseryman! His figure comes to mind in the passage from today's gospel scripture from the Gospel According to Luke. Jesus is presented as an itinerant preacher journeying from town to town. He uses the image of a sower of seed to characterize his mission. His disciples ask him to clarify the meaning and he instructs them about what a missionary can expect from his or her efforts. They have to learn that the results will vary from good to bad depending on the hearer.
I have had the experience, after many years of preaching parish missions and retreats, of someone coming up to me years later to say, "You probably won't remember me, but something you said in a sermon (or retreat conference) changed my life significantly for the better." But I've also had the experience of standing outside after Mass and someone says to me, "Nice homily, Father," and I wasn't the one who preached!!!
A wise Dominican missionary from the small missions along the Red River near my hometown in Louisiana once visited the Dominican House of Studies when I was in formation. I asked him how he was able to keep doing his mission, given the small results to be expected in a very non-Catholic environment. His answer to me, which I have never forgotten, was, "You have to remember that you are only going to do a limited amount of good. The important thing is to do that limited amount." All of us who are baptized can learn from Jesus' parable and Johnny Appleseed's dedication. AMEN