Posted by The WORD in other words (2010) by Fr. Isabelo San Luis, SVD – Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
Wednesday 16th Week in Ordinary Time
The parable in today’s Gospel is a story of symbols. Jesus is the sower; the seed, the word of God or his teachings. The soil symbolizes the various types of people who hear and give responses to God’s word.
The people who received the seed on the wayside refer to those who allow the devil to take the word of God out of their hearts. For instance, they give in to the thoughts that there is no God, that you can do immoral acts as long as you don’t get caught.
Those who received the seed on rocky ground refers to those who welcome it with great joy and enthusiasm. But having no depth, they fizzle out–a case of “ningas cogon.”
These are people who start out enthusiastically, say, in Charismatic and renewal seminars or even in civic organizations, but then gradually drop out. They show up on the first days then disappear. We might say, instead of receiving a Certificate of Attendance, they should receive a Certificate of Appearance!
The thorny soil refers to people who hear the word of God but the cares and worries of the world choke it.
These people are so busy, so preoccupied with their work and businesses that other important things, like prayer, get crowded out. Obviously this is not to spurn material endeavors but human life should not exclude the spiritual. Christ neatly puts it, “Not by bread alone does men live but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4,4)
Finally there is the good soil. It symbolizes those who’re receptive to God’s word and respond by applying it to themselves and bear fruits of good deeds.
Charlie Pitts owned the construction company that built the Toronto Subway in Canada. The more Charlie’s business grew, the more his personal and family life suffered. One day things got so bad that Charlie turned to the Bible for guidance.
As he read it, one sentence suddenly struck him. It was these words of Jesus: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul?” (Lk 9,25).
These words spoke right to Charlie. They said to him, “Charlie, this is what’s happening to you!” Bothered by the message, Charlie discussed it with his wife and decided to sell his company before it destroyed him.
Charlie went on to buy and manage a hotel and a golf resort. And part of the income from this enterprise was donated to the spread of the Gospel.
This is just one of many testimonies whereby being a “fertile soil” to God’s word means reading the Scriptures or listening to it, say, during the Mass, picking out the God’s message and putting it into practice in daily life.
As St. Francis de Sales said: “The test of a good homily is not when a listener goes away saying, ‘What a lovely homily’ but rather ‘What am I going to do?’”
Which soil are you—the wayside, the rocky, the thorny or the fertile? God certainly wants us to be the fertile, productive soil.
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