The Gospel according to Matthew (13:1-9)
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Reflection: I find this particular Gospel interesting because it is one of the few where this parable is actually explained in subsequent scripture (see The Explanation of the Parable of the Weeds -Matthew 13:36-43). To summarize this particular scripture, Jesus is the Sower. The good seed is the Children of God. The field is the world. The harvesters are the angels. The weeds and thorns are the evil ones. The enemy of one who sows is the Devil. So, the Son of Man will send His angels to collect the weeds and throw them into the fiery furnace. The good seed will shine like the sun in the kingdom of God.
The interesting part about this parable from today’s Gospel is that Jesus is sowing before plowing. Any good farmer knows that sowing before plowing would be considered insane because you are simply wasting seed and you are allowing the weeds to continue to grow. But Jesus uses this method of seed first, only to define the different people that are present in the world. Not everyone is good in this world and they live on different types of soil.
Today’s Gospel is describing the different types of ground that we walk on. Obviously, there is a very mixed patch of earth that wasn’t plowed correctly. There is the good ground, the partially good ground and the bad ground. Along this ground there are various paths to choose from. There are paths that we know where it is going and the paths where we are not sure. There are bits of rock sticking up above the ground with small pools where water can gather after rain, there’s the thorny paths, the paths with birds watching, and of course, the good productive paths. If the land wasn’t plowed, then weeds or thorns would overwhelm the good seed.
This parable describes the field in which Jesus and His Apostles are working and evangelizing. This field provides very mixed soil, and much of the seed does not go very far in producing fruit. Maybe this parable is about us identifying and taking the seed in unfertile areas and replanting it, embracing it, and nourishing it so it becomes good seed. It is these who are the fertile soil, who will enter the Kingdom.
Action of the Day: Identify the paths or types of soil you have walked in the past. What things did you learn from it? What are you doing about it now? And what do you plan to do in the near future?
Audio Reflection:
