One of the hallmarks of the Lord’s preaching and teaching is
his use of parables. Through parables, the Lord drew upon images, ideas, and
customs from the everyday life of 1st century Israel—like farming and seeds.
Through the parables the Lord challenged the preconceptions of his listeners
and lead them to truth, utilizing familiar imagery that even children could
connect with. Yet the parables, when pondered, are profound enough to challenge
the holiest of saints.
And I say the parables are challenging because they are
demanding. They demand some personal engagement, a decision, usually to change
our thoughts or behaviors.
In the parable of the good Samaritan, for example, the
listener has a choice. Who do I want to be in that story? Who does God want me
to be? The self-occupied Levitical priest who passes by on the other side of
the road when he glimpses a man in need? Or the good Samaritan who comes to the
aid of the stranger? Hearing this parable, you have a choice.
In the parable where Jesus likens the kingdom of God to the
pearl of great price, again the listener, has a choice. Will I pursue the
kingdom of God, the values of God as the most important thing in my life, or
not? Will I allow God to order my priorities, or not?
This weekend, one of the great parables—the parable of the
sower—where Lord talks about the different types of soil. And each of those
different types of soil represent the different types of responses to his
preaching. And again, the listener has a choice: will I make my mind and heart
receptive to the truth of God, or not? Will I clear away the thorns of my
earthly attractions and distractions or not?
Let’s examine those four different types of responses to the
Lord’s preaching. First there is the seed thrown on the path which is quickly
eaten up by birds. Seed thrown on the sidewalk can’t take root, the sidewalk is
too hard. So, too, hearts can becomes so hardened to God by sin and pride, that
the preaching of the Gospel really has no effect on them. They might hear a
nice sermon in Church or a fully accurate presentation of the Church’s moral
theology, but they are unwilling to trade their sins for conversion and deep
faith. Their pride doesn’t allow them to learn or experience anything new about
God, because they don’t think they need to.
Now there appear to be a lot of hardened souls these days. But
there are countless stories of souls, once hardened toward God, stories of
atheist whose hearts melted when exposed to a beautiful liturgy, or a beautiful
act of charity by a Catholic.
So just because a soul is hardened in pride, right now at this
very moment, doesn’t mean they will be lost forever. God is at work to soften all
hearts, and likely his instruments to accomplish this miracle are people like
you and me. So we do well to remember the hardened soul in our daily prayers, especially
the rosary.
The second type of soil described by the Lord was the rocky
ground. Our souls are rocky ground when we listen to the Gospel without the
willingness keep the faith through rocky times. Here is the person who is
initially enthused about the faith; maybe they have a powerful experience of
the Lord at a retreat or in Catholic school, maybe they go through OCIA, but they
get a glimpse of the cross and instead of taking it up, they run away from it.
There’s probably a lot of lapsed Catholics in this category. Those
who experienced some rockiness in their life, and gave up on religion. Or those
who have dug in their feet in opposition to some church teaching. Our souls
fail to bear fruit when we do this. And we are sadder for it.
But, again, we shouldn’t despair for these souls either. Plenty of
lapsed Catholics come home each year. But again, these souls are brought back
to God through prayers and penances offered up for them.
Thirdly, we heard of the seed sown among thorns. Our souls are
thorny when they are full of the attachments and distractions of the world. Thorns
like selfishness, lust, impatience, or resentment can cause the fire of faith
to diminish, the seed of God’s grace to be choked out. Addictions especially
can become so thorny they rip our souls to shreds. These spiritual thorns hinder
the life God wants to grow in us. So, new Catholics and life-long Catholics
must ensure that we stop the thorns from growing by making frequent examination
of our conscience and frequent confession.
Lastly, the Lord speaks of rich soil—the seed sown in rich soil.
Our souls are rich soil when we hear God’s Word, when we accept its
ramifications even with the willingness to suffer for it, when we clear out the
thorns, the distractions and the attachments, and we seek to understand and
live out the Gospel the best we possibly can.
When we allow the Gospel to be planted deep in our hearts, when we
do our part to nurture the life of grace through prayer and charity, our souls
bear tremendous fruit.
We see the flourishing of grace particularly in the lives of the
Saints. This week, on Wednesday, July 15 we celebrate one of the great
Franciscan saints, St. Bonaventure, who is considered a sort of “second
Founder” of the Franciscan Order. In order to cultivate that exuberant and
joyful Franciscan Spirit, Bonaventure stressed the importance of studying the
Word of God and serving Christ with a burning heart.
Is your heart on fire with love of God? If not, why not?
It’s possible, you know. It’s possible for each and every one of us, for our
souls to catch fire. That’s the ultimate good fruit that’s available to us
through study, and prayer, and charity—a burning love for Jesus Christ, and Him
Crucified.
That’s the harvest God of abundant fruit that God wants for
us—a burning love of Jesus that transforms us. And again Bonaventure, and so
many of the saints, show us how to achieve that. We must make our souls into
rich soil for the Word of God—through prayer,
frequent honest and humble confession of sins, meditation on Scripture, and
intentional acts of mercy.
May we do all that we can to make our hearts into that rich soil
praised by the Lord, hearts like his, obedient to the Father, full of mercy and
compassion, and willingness to carry our crosses for the glory of God and
salvation of souls.
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