Brothers and Sisters,
The way we hear the parable story in this week’s Gospel tells us how receptive we really are to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mt 13:1-23). The parable is about the character of God, and how God reveals that character to those who recognize it. It shows how a parable can reflect back to us our ability to understand them. As you listen to the story, it will reveal and identify which kind of recipient you are by the way you hear it. The depth of our understanding depends on our willingness to be changed by what we hear. We can’t change the kind of soil we are—only God can do that.
The story is not about the type of soil we are since that would make the story be about us—about the soil. But the story is not about us; but the story is for us. This parable, like all scripture, is really about God and God’s extravagant generosity.
God is the Sower, scattering seed liberally, even wastefully, everywhere. It’s what God does. It’s what God keeps on doing. God keeps throwing seeds, regardless of where the seed might land. God is loving, generous, lavish, abundant, eager to share what is good. God will not withhold His Word from anyone. God will not deny anyone access to the Good News. How we understand the Word and absorb it into our lives will determine the extent to which it can change us, transforming us into fruitful plants that bear abundantly.
As we listen to the parables of Jesus over the next few weeks, what will they reveal about us? How will our ears hear them? How will we be changed by God’s Word which “… achieves the end for which it was sent?” As we find ourselves drawn into God’s story and as God invites us to become part of it, how willing are we to be transformed by that story, becoming someone we have not been before?
God Bless,
Deacon Howard
