Gospel 0716 Reflection

The Gospel

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! 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. Let anyone with ears listen!”

“Hear then the parable of the sower. 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. As for what was sown 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. As for what was sown 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. But as for what was sown 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.”

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This Gospel speaks volumes about the proclamation of the Gospel both in times past and in our own day.  How we need to hear what this Gospel says.  It is so easy for us who are the Church in our own generation to become frustrated by what we see.  There are times when the Gospel bears fruits, and we rejoice in those moments.  And yet there are other times when it seems as if the Gospel has no effect.

I was raised in the Church.  The Church has always been a familiar place for me.  I was born in the last hour of a Sunday evening, and from what I am told, my first time being in a Church was the following Sunday morning when I was a week old.  I was raised by a mother who was determined that each and every Sunday I would be found with her in the Church as the faithful gathered in worship.  I knew only too well as a child that if I was too sick to go to Church, I was too sick to do anything!  I had the Scriptures placed in my hands from an early age.  Even as a child, I was well-trained in order that when a Bible was placed in my hand, and any random citation of Scripture was proclaimed, I could find it quickly, no matter how obscure that portion of the Scriptures might be.  It helped a whole lot knowing that if I got it first, before the rest of my peers, there was some little goodie coming my way as a prize.

And yet in spite of that, it was not until I found the Church on my own as a teenager that what I heard took root and grew.  I have said many times that when at last I embraced the faith for myself as a teenager and went to Church weekly without fail not because someone else was directing me to do so but rather because I longed to be there, that it was then and only then that I truly heard the Gospel.  It was then that I embrace the grace of God for me.  It was then that I discovered that God loves me.  It was an awakening, and I have never been the same since that moment.  Simply put, it was the right time, and the right conditions.  And now here I am 24 years later, 14 years a priest.

The most frustrating aspect of all this for us is that sometimes there is initial growth, but it doesn’t last.  Today’s Gospel helps give us an understanding.  Some people have a shallow faith, and thus when the roots die out from lack of space to grow, the growth that is the fruit fades and dies away.  Some are so caught up in other things that that faith becomes choked by other things that seek to distract us from the life that is truly life.  Each of these are greatly frustrating.  And yet remember that God is able to bring life even to the dead.  The roots remain, even when they have died.  And Christ is fully capable of restoring the dead root, even the decayed root, when the time is right, that it might spring forth as a living branch that grows.  As we hear this, let us rejoice in those in whom we see growth.  And let us pray reverently for those who have lost their faith, or those who have never heard the faith of the Gospel, trusting in God, pleading with God, to bring forth growth even among these ones in whom life seems to be absent.

Father Tim+