Word to the Wise
Wednesday, July 23, 2025 - Wednesday in the 16th Week in Ordinary Time
[Exod 16:1-5, 9-15 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 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. Whoever has ears ought to hear." [Matthew]
Crop planting in Jesus' day was nothing like the GPS guided machinery of our times! Seed was rather broadly strewn across a patch of ground whose edges were not precisely delineated! This is the image behind the parable today. The purpose of the parable reflects the experiences that early Christian preachers were having in their efforts to spread the Good News. Why is it that not everyone was hearing the message and joining the movement? This question could take us into the neuralgic subject of the quality (and sometimes the quantity) of Catholic pulpit preaching! But it could also take us into the question of the non-pulpit preaching that is done by faithful Christians either in ordinary life or in teaching catechism, etc.. The sad complaints of parents and grandparents about the failure of children and grandchildren to be "practicing Catholics" have been a common feature of my itinerant preaching across the USA.
Perhaps Jesus and the evangelist Matthew are simply being "realistic" in recognizing that not everyone will be ready to say "AMEN!" to whatever the preacher says or lives. The assumption is that the seed is good but the environment is uneven! That environment includes the sower as well as the ground. However, it is an act of faith on the part of the sower. The parable challenges the early preachers not to lose faith if the results are less than hoped for. But, sloppy sowing is not thereby excused! The sower needs to "wise-up" on the best ways to sow. Sadly, not everyone who gets up into the pulpit at Eucharist or otherwise has the skills for the task, but their life outside the pulpit can be a powerful preaching. We are all called to the task of sowing the seed. Doing the best we can and understanding that the results will often be uneven is the lesson of the parable! AMEN