In today’s gospel (Matthew 13:1-23) we hear the parable of the sower. Jesus is essentially telling us what type of inner disposition we need in order to hear God’s Word and allow God’s grace to penetrate our being so that God can bear fruit within us and so that we can bear fruit in the world.
Jesus tells us that our hearts and minds must remain open to the workings of God’s grace so that it can take root in us. Jesus is telling us that as God’s grace takes root in us we will be able to persevere in our faith even in times of disappointment and suffering. Jesus is telling us that as God’s grace takes root in us we will be able to overcome anxieties and worries that can sometimes overwhelm us and eclipse our relationship with God. Jesus is telling us that as God’s grace takes root in us we will be less inclined to displace God with those worldly ambitions and disordered desires that so frequently infiltrate our hearts and minds. Jesus is telling us that as God’s grace takes root in us we will be empowered to more fully live out our faith and our mission as disciples of Christ.
In today’s Old Testament reading (Isaiah 55:10-11) we hear God’s assurance that the Word that God sends forth will not return to him empty, but will accomplish his will. And this is what Jesus emphasizes – that if we accept God’s invitation – if we properly dispose ourselves to him, if we allow him to continually cultivate our “fertile ground” – that more and more will be given to us. Jesus tells us that if we truly welcome God into our lives with open hearts and minds, we can be transformed into the people that God desires us to be.
So today we prayerfully ask our loving God to help us turn to him, to help us overcome that indifference and close-mindedness that makes up the “hard path”, to help us overcome that hard-heartedness that that makes up the “rocky ground”, and to help us overcome those distractions and misplaced priorities that make up the “thorny landscape”.
And we can pray for all this confidently because we know that our God is gracious and merciful. Just think about what Jesus reveals about God in this parable. Jesus tells us that God is not stingy with the sowing of his seed. On the contrary, God is extremely generous as he sows. What farmer spreads seed on a hard path or on rocky ground? What farmer spreads seeds among thorns? Most farmers would view this as a total waste of seed. But not God. Our loving God is willing to broadcast his seed widely, even in those places where it might not take root. And this is because God is generous and loving beyond anything we can imagine. Even amidst our hard-heartedness, our indifference, and our distractions, God never gives up on us. God never rescinds the invitation for us to enter into loving relationship with him.
So wherever we are in our lives, we ask God to help us make Him the focus of our lives and our utmost priority. Today we ask our “Divine Sower” to cultivate us so that we provide nothing but fertile soil for his holy seed, and that we might then go out and sow his seed generously in the world.