Year A 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time



[Is. 55:10-1; Rom. 8:18-23; Mt. 13:1-23]

Jesus taught the good news for three years. The message of Jesus penetrated the heart of each of his listeners because he spoke with tenderness using the vocabulary of the common man. In order to make himself understood more easily He made abundant use
of comparisons which He took from the everyday life of the people. Today’s Gospels presents before us the parable of the sower. A sower went out to sow. and as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

This parable was explained by Jesus Himself. As the sower sowed some fell on the path. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. There are some who hear these truths but they do not understand them because they have become worldly minded. In such cases, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in their hearts. The materialistic philosophies, the consumerist attitude, selfish designs of the world and false convictions keep the word of God away from them. They either refuses to listen, or do not understand even if they listen. They understand neither the spoken word nor are they able to read the signs of the time. They pretend that they know everything.

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a short story by Alexander Baron. In this story he speaks about a man who knew everything. He was known as Private Quelch.  Anyone who saw Private Quelch, lanky, stooping, frowning through horn-rimmed spectacles, understood why he was known as the Professor. Those who had any doubts on the subject lost them after five minutes' conversation with him. He joined as a trainee in the army. During every lesson he interrupted and corrected the instructors. Once a sergeant asked him, 'You had any training before?' The Professor answered with a phrase that was to become familiar to all. 'No, Sergeant. It's all a matter of intelligent reading.'

And day in and day out, he lectured to his companions on every aspect of human knowledge. Each time one of them made a mistake the Professor would publicly correct him.  Once Corporal Turnbull, a young tough man, began his instructions on grenade. Professor Quelch interrupted him too. Corporal Turnbull was annoyed. 'Here,' he said at last, 'you give this lecture!' As if afraid to say any more, he tossed the grenade to the Professor. Quite unabashed, Private Quelch climbed to his feet and with the air of a man coming into his birth right gave us an unexceptionable lecture on the grenade. When he finished, Corporal Turnbull announced:

'The platoon officer has asked me to nominate one of you for-' He paused. Everyone looked at Professor Quelch, who stood in expectant attention. He continued: ….'the platoon officer has asked me to nominate one of you for permanent cookhouse duties. I've decided that Private Quelch is just the man for the job.'
There are the hearers of the word of God with the shut mind. It pushes them into the cook house, to remain there, filled with pride of self.

Some fell on rocky ground. This is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.  When Moses worked wonders to lead the Israelites from the land of Egypt, the accepted the word of God and followed it. When Moses divided the sea and saved them, they honoured the word of God, when Moses fed them with Manna, they revered the word of God; When Moses brought water out of the rock to quench their thirst they hailed the word of God. But, when Moses was on the top of the mountain with God, they abandoned the word of God and went after Idols. Often our attitude, too, is the same. When we listen to a sermon, make a decision to change our life, but forget it when we go out. When we attend a retreat, a resolution is made to be a devoted Christian, but the resolution is short lived. Our resolutions should be deep rooted. So they will not wither away.

Some fell among thorns. This is the one, who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. They hear the truth but they prefer to choose their love of the temporary pleasures and wealth of the world. Robert Frost describes this situation in his poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” The poet passes through woods. He is tempted by the scenic beauty, to stop in the middle of his journey, and enjoy it. Likewise, there are so many material things that try to stop us, and divert our attention from following the word of God. But the poet makes a wise decision:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Some seeds fell on good soil. This is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. These are those who have heard the truth since the days of their early childhood. They grow in their faith. They loved the Word of God. They understood the secrets of the Kingdom of God. There are thousands of Saints and Martyrs whose entire lives were lives of spiritual growth, bearing fruit after fruit.  There has been a person a person who offered the best soil to God’s Word at all times. That is Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is the perfect model as to how we should listen to the Word of God. Luke says,
“Mary kept all these things,
 pondering them in her heart.” (Lk 2:19)

She is also the perfect model of obedience to God’s word.  She submitted herself to the word of God and declared:
 “I am the handmaid of the Lord
let it be to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38)

She also commanded others to follow the words of Jesus. “Do whatever he tells you.”(Jn2:5).

So the real hearer of the word has an open mind; he is prepared to listen; he understands; and finally he translates his hearing into action.

Satish