Why Do You Speak to Them in Parables?
Introduction: May the Word of the LORD continue to take root in
you so that you can produce the rich harvest that God has planned for you.
For a bountiful crop, the soil must first be prepared by
tilling, fertilizing with manure, planting the seeds and then having sufficient
rain and sunlight. If all the conditions are right, a little seed of corn (or
wheat or other grain) produces a plant that has many more seeds than of that
which was planted. How wonderful God has made the reproductive cycle of life.
The prophets of old, and especially Jesus, were aware of
this cycle and used it to describe the growth of the seed of God’s Word in the
life of those who are prepared to hear and bear the fruit of the Word of the
LORD.
The Word of the LORD – that is what it is all about. Not
just in today’s readings but ever since God first spoke the creative Word in
Genesis until the end of time. Isaiah refers to the effectiveness of God’s
Word, producing life just as water falling upon the parched earth gives life.
The psalm today reverberates with words of growth and fruition flowing from
God. St. Paul also is aware that all creation is seeking the growth of the
first fruits of God that come from God’s action in the lives of the children of
God. The parable in the Gospel compares God’s Word to the seed that bears a
fruitful harvest, especially when it is planted in rich soil.
First Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11: ‘The rain makes the earth
bring forth and sprout.’
Commentary: This
poetic passage from Isaiah about the word of God may be understood on two
levels. On one level it prepares for Jesus’ parable in the gospel reading about
the sower and the seed. But while Isaiah stresses the effectiveness of the word
of God, Jesus reflects on the failure of
his word with many sections of his hearers, as well as on the brilliant success
of his word in those who bear fruit ‘thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold’. On
another level it prepares for the meditation on the Word of God in the prologue
to the gospel of John: ‘In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God
and the Word was God.’ This helps to explain just how God, the awesome and
inexpressible, can be manifested and active in creation. In Genesis God created
by his Word (‘Let there be light, let there be a vault, etc’), so the Word is
seen not as something separate from and independent of God, but as the concrete
expression of God’s will, the manifestation of divine power. The Word which
comes forth from God’s mouth and does not return unfulfilled is, on this level,
the creative power of God, unstoppably fulfilling the will of God in the world.
Responsorial Psalm 65:10a-d. 10e-11.
12-13. 14: Some seed fell into good soil
and yielded its fruit.
The psalm picks up on this theme of God’s watering the land
and providing the necessary elements for a rich harvest. Without God’s sending
the life-giving water, there would be no growth. With the heaven-sent rain, the
yield is more than plentiful.
Second Reading: Romans 8:18-23: ‘The creation waits with
eager longing
for the revealing of the sons of God.’
Commentary: In our
reading of Romans 8 on life in the Spirit of the Risen Christ we have missed
out (they are used on a separate occasion) a few crucial verses on our adoption
as sons, enabling us – both men and women – to call God ‘Abba,
Father’. This intimate Aramaic family name, used by Jesus to his Father in his
agonized prayer in the Garden (Mark 14.36), can be used by all his followers
who share his life. With Jesus we are heirs of God, sharing his inheritance.
Not only ourselves, however, but the whole of creation is renewed and
re-created by the Spirit. It all takes on a new dimension and a new life,
groaning in the Spirit to be released from frustration. This is a new reason
for renewed human beings to care for God’s creation. In the first place we were
created in the image of God to further and to complete his creation. Now,
re-created as adopted sons and heirs of God, our responsibility is increased
and intensified. As yet, we have only the first-fruits of the Spirit, but
first-fruits make sense and have their value only in view of the fullness and
completion of the harvest.
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23: ‘A sower went out to sow.’
Commentary: Like
any good teacher, Jesus uses pictures – or parables. Ever heard the one
about the elephant and the wasp? Or electricity like a toy train going round a
room? Anyway, for the next three weeks we have some of these pictures, to show
us what Jesus is trying to do. This first one is rather sad. Whatever he does
seems to fail: seed pecked up by birds, scorched by the sum, choked by
thistles. What are my pecking birds, my scorching sun, my choking thistles
which annihilate the seed Jesus sows in me? Different for every one of us. But
some, just a little, of the seed bears a fantastic harvest. There must be
something I can show to the Lord with pride and gratitude: ‘Look, this is the
seed you gave me; it has grown, developed, and here is your harvest’. Jesus,
too, reflected on his mission to establish his Father’s sovereignty on earth.
Jesus, too, got depressed and wondered if he was getting anywhere. It was only
when he had failed utterly, alone, deserted and tortured, that his perseverance
won the crown. Jesus doesn’t want the successful. He wants the failures as his
followers – and that is where the harvest lies.
Reflection: What is the best and easiest way to help people
understand God's kingdom? Like the rabbis of his time, Jesus very frequently
used parables - short stories and images taken from everyday life - to convey
hidden truths about the kingdom of God. Like a skillful artist, Jesus sketched
memorable pictures with short and simple words. A good image can speak more
loudly and clearly than many words. Jesus used the ordinary everyday
illustrations of life and nature to point to another order of reality - hidden,
yet visible to those who had "eyes to see" and "ears to
hear". Jesus communicated with vivid illustrations which captured the
imaginations of his audience more powerfully than any abstract presentation
could. His parables are like buried treasure waiting to be discovered (Matthew
13:44).
What can the parable about seeds and roots teach us about
the kingdom of God? Any farmer will attest to the importance of good soil for
supplying nutrients for growth. And how does a plant get the necessary food and
water it needs except by its roots? The Scriptures frequently use the image of
fruit-bearing plants or trees to convey the principle of spiritual life and
death. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He
is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and
does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious
in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8;
see also Psalm 1:3)
How do you listen to God's
word? Jesus' parable of the sower is aimed at the hearers of his
word. There are different ways of accepting God's word and they produce
different kinds of fruit accordingly. There is the prejudiced hearer who has a
shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to what he or she doesn't
want to hear. Then there is the shallow hearer. He or she fails to think things
out or think them through; they lack depth. They may initially respond with an
emotional reaction; but when it wears off their mind wanders to something else.
Another type of hearer is the person who has many interests
or cares, but who lacks the ability to hear or comprehend what is truly
important. Such a person is too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study and
meditate on God's word. Then there is the one whose mind is open. Such a person
is at all times willing to listen and to learn. He or she is never too proud or
too busy to learn. They listen in order to understand. God gives grace to those
who hunger for his word that they may understand his will and have the strength
to live according to it. Do you hunger for God's word?
The refusal to believe and
understand: Jesus told his disciples that not everyone would
understand his parables. Did Jesus mean to say that he was deliberately
confusing or hiding the meaning of his stories from his listeners? Very likely
not. Jesus was speaking from experience. He was aware that some who heard his
parables refused to understand them. It was not that they could not
intellectually understand them, but rather, their hearts were closed to what
Jesus was saying. They had already made up their minds to not believe. God can
only reveal the secrets of his kingdom - that which is hidden to the
spiritually blind - to those who hunger for God and humbly submit to his truth.
What can makes us ineffective or unresponsive to God's word?
Preoccupation with other things can distract us from what is truly important
and worthwhile. And letting our hearts and minds be consumed with material
things can easily weigh us down and draw us away from the heavenly treasure
that lasts for eternity. God's word can only take root in a receptive heart
which is docile and ready to hear what God has to say.
How God's word takes root in
us: The parables of Jesus will enlighten us if we approach them with
an open mind and heart, ready to let them challenge us. If we approach them
with the conviction that we already know the answer, then we, too, may look but
not see, listen but not understand. God's word can only take root in a
receptive heart that is ready to believe and willing to submit. Do you submit
to God's word with trust and obedience?
One lesson from this parable is clear: the harvest is sure
to come. While some seed will fall by the wayside and some fall on shallow
ground and never come to maturity, and some be choked to death by the thorns;
nonetheless a harvest will come. The seed that falls on good soil, on the heart
that is receptive, will reap abundant fruit. God is always ready to speak to
each of us and to give us understanding of his word. Are you hungry for his
word? And do you allow anything to keep you from submitting to God's word with
joy and trusting obedience?
Lord Jesus, faith in your word is the way to wisdom, and to
ponder your divine plan is to grow in the truth. Open my eyes to your deeds,
and my ears to the sound of your call, that I may understand your will for my
life and live according to it.
Daily Quote from the Early
Church Fathers: The shallow and
rootless mind, by Clement of Alexandria, 150-215 A.D.
"Let us look, as from a broader perspective, at what it
means to be on the road. In a way, every road is hardened and foolish on
account of the fact that it lies beneath everyone's feet. No kind of seed finds
there enough depth of soil for a covering. Instead, it lies on the surface and
is ready to be snatched up by the birds that come by. Therefore those who have
in themselves a mind hardened and, as it were, packed tight do not receive the
divine seed but become a well-trodden way for the unclean spirits. These are
what is here meant by 'the birds of the heaven'" But 'heaven' we
understand to mean this air, in which the spirits of wickedness move about, by
whom, again, the good seed is snatched up and destroyed. Then what are those
upon the rock? They are those people who do not take much care of the faith
they have in themselves. They have not set their minds to understand the
touchstone of the mystery [of being united with Christ]. The reverence these
people have toward God is shallow and rootless. It is in times of ease and fair
weather that they practice Christianity, when it involves none of the painful
trials of winter. They will not preserve their faith in this way, if in times
of tumultuous persecution their soul is not prepared for the struggle. (excerpt
from FRAGMENT 168).
from clod to God: “Thus
You have prepared the land: drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods,
softening it with showers.” —Psalm 65:11
God the Father sends every resource necessary to transform
our hearts from hard ground to soft, fruitful ground, drenching them with
physical and spiritual showers from heaven (see Is 55:10-11). Jesus is
constantly sowing His Word, everywhere and to every person (Mt 13:4ff). The
Holy Spirit transforms our hearts from stony hearts to natural, soft, fruitful
hearts (Ez 36:26). For rocky ground, the Word of God is “like a hammer
shattering rocks” (Jer 23:29), breaking up hard clods of clay into good ground.
The Word of God is “living and effective,” penetrating and breaking up
rock-hard hearts (Heb 4:12-13).
So why doesn’t everyone melt and bear abundant fruit if the
Holy Trinity and the Word are so effective and powerful? Jesus answers by
quoting the prophet Isaiah (see Mt 13:14-15; Is 6:9-10), saying that by
faithfully sowing an understandable message, it would be as if you were causing
obstinacy rather than repentance. Isaiah 6:9-10 is quoted five times in the New
Testament (Mt 13:14-15; Mk 4:12; Lk 8:10; Jn 12:40; Acts 28:26-27).
Jesus reminds us to faithfully spread God’s Word, regardless
of the results. We must go out and sow (Mt 13:4). If people don’t receive God’s
Word, we are not to be surprised. The New Testament has prepared us five times
for this rejection. Like Jesus, we must attempt to reach our hearers on their
level, using parables (Mt 13:13), stories, discourses, explanations, etc. In so
doing, some will repent, turn back to Jesus, and be healed (Mt 13:15).
The personal action for today:
How has my life been affected by my openness to the word? What can I do to be
better grounded so that the Word of God can take root and grow? How can my
discipline of being a person of the Word touch the life of another person
today? This week?
Prayer: Holy
Spirit, here I am. Use me to sow Your Word to a world that is famished for Your
Good News. “I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared
with the glory to be revealed in us.” —Rm 8:18. Praise You, Jesus! With You and
in You, we are raised up and given a place in the heavens (Eph 2:6). Alleluia!
Saint John Jones’ and Saint
John Wall: These two friars were
martyred in England in the 16th and 17th centuries for refusing to deny their
faith.
John Jones was Welsh. He was ordained a diocesan priest and
was twice imprisoned for administering the sacraments before leaving England in
1590. He joined the Franciscans at the age of 60 and returned to England three
years later while Queen Elizabeth I was at the height of her power. John
ministered to Catholics in the English countryside until his imprisonment in
1596. He was condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. John was executed on
July 12, 1598.
John Wall was born in England but was educated at the
English College of Douai, Belgium. Ordained in Rome in 1648, he entered the
Franciscans in Douai several years later. In 1656 he returned to work secretly
in England.
In 1678, Titus Oates worked many English people into a
frenzy over an alleged papal plot to murder the king and restore Catholicism in
that country. In that year Catholics were legally excluded from Parliament, a
law which was not repealed until 1829. John Wall was arrested and imprisoned in
1678, and was executed the following year. John Jones and John Wall were
canonized in 1970.
Every martyr knows how to save his/her life and yet refuses
to do so. A public repudiation of the faith would save any of them. But some
things are more precious than life itself. These martyrs prove that their
20th-century countryman, C. S. Lewis, was correct in saying that courage is not
simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point,
that is, at the point of highest reality.
