Coffee With God

Reflection: Matthew 13: 1-9

We are reading here from Matthew 13. The whole chapter consists of “parables of the Kingdom.” Pope Francis calls the Parable of the Sower as the ‘mother’ of all parables, because it speaks about listening to the Word. The Word of God is a seed which in itself is fruitful and effective; and God scatters it everywhere, not thinking about the chances of wasting the seeds. Such is the heart of God! Each one of us is a ground on which the seed of the Word falls; no one is excluded! The sower is Jesus himself. He does not attempt to take us by force, but he casts his Word into our lives – by offering himself for us while leaving us free to choose. With patience and generosity, he brings us the Gospel – the Good News. This seed contains message of hope, message of compassion, message of mercy and forgiveness. That is why, if this seed is well received, it can bear marvellous fruits – fruits in abundance, just as the sower sow the seeds – in abundance. God’s word is not just a spoken word. It is a doing word, a creating, life-giving word. It is like a life-bearing seed. And yet, as the Lord narrated in the parable, much of that Word fell on barren soil. Many refused to hear or to see – as it happened to Jesus himself. Even those closest disciples of Jesus did not provide a very promising soil in the beginning. Jesus’ life and mission seemed to end in tragic and dismal failure. There was not a single disciple in sight. His enemies laughed and mocked him. And yet… It was precisely at that moment of apparent failure, the seed “fell into the ground and died” (cf. John 12:24) and there the Word of God began to take root in the hearts people. Jesus invites us today to look inside ourselves: to give thanks for our good soil and to tend the soil that is not yet good. He wants our hearts to be open to welcome the seed of the Word of God with faith. We need to check if our rocks of laziness are still numerous and large; to identify our thorns of vices and call them by name. The Gospel is a reminder for us to reclaim the soil, to effect a nice conversion of our hearts, bringing to the Lord in Confession and in prayer, our rocks and our thorns. In doing this, Jesus, the Good Sower will be glad to carry out an additional task: purify our hearts by removing the rocks and the thorns which choke his Word.