Our gospel this weekend is St. Matthews’s version of the parable of the sower. Jesus goes down to the lake of Galilee and attracts a large number of listeners. This again shows the hunger that is in people. This hunger for the word of God that was there in Jesus’ time is also there in our world today, people today are hungry for the word of God, because we are all wired for God and we will not find true happiness until we find God. This is something we have seen during the lockdown, we are all anxious, even though somewhat cautious, to return to mass and communion. Jesus uses an image that would have been very familiar to people living in the fishing and agricultural economy of Galilee. A sower went out to sow his seed and he spread his seed far and wide. He sows generously and recklessly. He sows his seed on good soil, on bad soil on paths and among thorns. The gospel tells us that God lets the sun shine on the good and bad alike. We sometimes let the sun of our kindness shine only on those who will be kind to us. Jesus encourages us to lend to those who will not pay us back, to invite those to our party not so that they will invite us to their party. How do you sow the seed of your kindness and love? There is a story told in Christian tradition that as Jesus was walking one day a person cursed him and he blessed the person and his followers questioned him saying how you can do that, that’s all I have in my bag. The gospel today speaks about the receivers of the word.
1. The sower is Jesus, he goes out into the world and tirlessly sows his seed.
2. The seed is the word of God, it is the seed of goodness of love and courage, it is the best of seed and it is free. The sower is always the same the seed is always the same, what changes is the soil in which the seed is sown.
3. The gound in which the seed is sown can be different and the ground is my heart and your heart. Our heart can be open or closed, it can be sincere or insincere, it can be generous or selfish, it can be forgiving or bitter. This is why the seed can enter into some hearts take root and produce hundredfold and why the seed cannot enter other hearts, it dies and is wasted. What kind of gorund am? Is my heart open to the message of Jesus, to his word which will turn me into a better person. Jesus is not only the one who sows, he also heals the heart, the great cardioligist. If my heart is selfish and bitter he can make it generous and forgiving. We too become sowers, we step out into the world and sow the seed of goodness and truth. We are the bearers of good seed of good news by the words we use and the actions we do.
Let us be sowers of goodness, forgiveness and love.