TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

THE SEED OF THE WORD

 

At the end of his letter, Paul gives as a program of life to Timothy to remain faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We hear today Luke’s version of the parable of the seed. In Jesus’ original intent, it pictured the difficult growth of the kingdom towards its final accomplishment, of which also Paul speaks in the first reading. Luke applies it in the explanation of the parable to the reception of the Word of God and the life of faith in people’s hearts. God sows the seed, but people receive it differently and react to it in various ways, for it is hard to let it grow and remain loyal to it in the humble and sometimes difficult realities of daily life. How does God’s Word grow and bear fruit in us?

 

First Reading: 1Timonty 6:13-16

I’m charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn’t give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don’t slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He’ll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He’s the only one death can’t touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He’s never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can’t take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.

 

Gospel: Luke 8:4-15

The Story of the Seeds

As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and travelled along. He addressed them, using this story: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn’t have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop.

“Are you listening to this? Really listening?”

His disciples asked, “Why did you tell this story?”

He said, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom—you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren’t going to get it:

Their eyes are open but don’t see a thing,
Their ears are open but don’t hear a thing.

“This story is about some of those people. The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won’t believe and be saved.

 “The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn’t go very deep. It’s only another fad, and the moment there’s trouble it’s gone.

“And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.

“But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there’s a harvest.

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
we thank you for speaking to us
the Word of your Son, Jesus Christ,
and sowing in our hearts and minds
the seeds of faith.
Open our ears to his Word, day after day,
that it may grow in us
in pain and effort and joy,
that it be rooted ever more deeply
and bear fruits of justice and love,
until the final coming of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

God speaks to all, without reservations

The original listeners of Jesus were mostly rural landholders, farmers and day-labourers, constantly struggling against impossible odds. For them, thought of a hundredfold harvest would have represented life to the full, unthinkable joy and freedom from debt. This parable is often titled as the “parable ofthe sower.” When Jesus said this story to his listeners, perhaps it had a simple meaning – the focus is on the sower. This sower does not care about how the soil would receive the seed. He goes around sowing the seed – He is not discouraged by the lack of results from varied areas, but is hopeful that there would be some place where the seeds would be well received and produce desired results. Focus is totally on the sower. But when Luke narrates the parable for his listeners, he would label the listeners of Jesus as “townspeople”– because the listeners of Luke were mostly living in the towns and not in villages. The townspeople would not totally understand the nuances involved in the process of farming. As it happens even today, majority of the listeners of the Gospel who live in the cities have little knowledge about the lives of farmers and cultivating the land. This is the reason for the evangelists to provide an explanation for the parable, immediately after narrating the parable. The Scripture scholars would explain that this explanation of the parable did not originate from Jesus himself, rather this was how the parable was explained to the communities abroad – who were dwelling in cities, who had little understanding of farming and farmers. The explanation carries the original parable further than its simple message. In the parable the emphasis was on the sower, but in the explanation, the emphasis is shifted to the soil which receives the seed. The overwhelming pagan world around them was just too strong an attraction and their ideologies and way of life represented the birds the ate up the seeds that fell on the path. Many early Christians who must have given up their faith under the pressures of persecution represented the seed that falls on the rock. They were not able to put down any long-lasting roots and, at the first hint of opposition or temptation, they fall away. The seed that falls among the brambles represents those who do hear and accept the word. But, gradually the pressure of the secular world and its values is too much. They try to live in both worlds, but are gradually choked up with concerns about money and material and social wants and the pursuit of pleasure. The evangelist calls on us to prepare our hearts well to receive the Word of God in all openness to be fruitful a hundredfold.

 

Video available on Youtube: God speaks to all, without reservations