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