“some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up”
Today's Gospel is a well known parable. This parable relates to everyone then as it does to us today. Jesus uses a common scenario for the people back then, a sower planting seed in his field. Even if the majority of us do not farm, we all know the importance of planting, seeding, watching and waiting for plants and crops to grow.
Jesus starts with three types of bad soil that cannot support long-term growth. We will take a look at each of them individually. The first type of soil (the path) is discussed in Part I, the second two types (shallow, rocky soil and soil with thorns) are discussed in Part II. With this parable, Jesus challenges each of us to examine our own conscience to find what soil we are.
It is good to always evaluate ourselves to find out what soil we are and one way we do this is through Counsel, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Why do we receive the gift of Counsel? “We receive the gift of Counsel to warn us of the deceits of the devil, and of the dangers to salvation.” [1] In the Gospel, Jesus warns us of the dangers to salvation by giving us the three types of soil that fail to produce fruit. We can ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of Counsel and then look into our life and honestly ask the following: What causes us to have a hard heart? What people, places, events, attitudes steal grace from us? Keep us from growing deep roots and choke out the life of Christ in us?
Of the four spots the seeds have fallen, the path is probably the worst of all places. Why? The main reason is the seed never has a chance to grow. This represents the hearts of people who completely reject God and their hearts are as hard as stone. God has always warned His people not to have “hard hearts,” and this reminder is prayed each morning in the Invitatory Psalm of the Liturgy of the Hours . “Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did in the wilderness, when at Meriba and Massah they challenged me and provoked me, Although they has seen all of my works.” [2]
God’s promise is to “give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts.” [3] As Christians, we must live this promise and guard against returning to the stony hearts we once had and could have if we reject God and His promise. It is possible that those with stony hearts hear God’s word, but it goes in one ear and out the other. The bird that swoops down and catches it is like Satan who quickly takes away any seeds of faith which are sowed and tries to remove them, not giving them a change to germinate. As Cardinal John Henry Newman once said about Satan, “He [Satan] is not idle; rather, he has his eyes always wide and open and is always ready to spring and snatch away the gift that you do not use.” [4] Satan is like a vulture, ready and willing to swoop down and grab anything that is dying or dead in our souls. He is also eager to remove any sign of hope or source of life within our reach.
What is a person like whose seed fell in this kind of soul? “They are lukewarm and full of scorn. [5] We know Jesus spits out those who are lukewarm, [6] he wants us to be on fire for God and following the path of perfection. The only way to make this happen is to keep an open heart and to not be harsh.
How can we keep from letting this happen? We must ask for the Holy Spirit to empower us with the gift of Fortitude so we do not fall into lukewarmness and negligence. “The gift of Fortitude is a supernatural inclination which enables the will to do great things for God with joy, without fear and in spite of all obstacles.” [7] We must be driven and have the resolve to remove any sins, especially habitual and mortal sins, out of our lives. At the same time, we must always have a contrite and penitent heart. We must remind ourselves of the necessity of God’s Grace, our Faith in Him and the law of Charity. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.” [8] If we have already received the Sacrament of Confirmation, we can thank God for the Grace that He bestowed on us and continue to ask for His Grace. Through the gift of Confirmation, God sends an outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our hearts in order to make them soft. If we have not yet received the Sacrament of Confirmation, we can prepare with great longing for that gift. There is no way for us to obtain salvation except through our Lord Jesus Christ who has planted the seeds within all of our hearts. The seed which He plants is Himself. A seed that not only softens the heart of man but gives man a new heart, the heart of Christ. “Let there be a bonding with Jesus Christ so close that there is only one heart with him…” [9]
How does meekness and humility help us to not have hard hearts? In Middle English, the origin of meekness means “soft” and the Greek origin it means “discipline.” It is only through meekness, that our hearts can be soft and receptive to the Word of God. We must be like “an animal which has been domesticated, which has been trained to obey the word of command, which has learned to answer to the reins. It [meekness] is the word for an animal which has learned to accept control. ” [10] Meekness makes our hearts soft and disciplined and leads to humility. We are soft like soil and disciplined like a domesticated animal. We imitate Jesus, “who humbled himself to share in our humanity” [11] and was “like a lamb led to the slaughter” [12] as he “humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” [13]
There are many things in life that must be prepared and softened to be made ready for use. For example, a baseball glove is hard and stiff at first and cannot be useful in catching a ball. It takes time and energy to apply the oil to the glove and let the oil sink in. The oil is applied mostly to the area of the glove that will receive the ball. At both our baptism and Confirmation (and then also at Holy Orders for those ordained), the Chrism Oil is applied to our body and sinks into the soul, which will be the area receptive to the Word of God. During the Rite of Baptism the priest touches the ears and says, “Ephpheta, which means, ‘Be opened.’” [14] It is the Sacred Oil that helps our ears to open to the word of God throughout our life. From the beginning of time, God was preparing the world to be open to the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ. This is most evident in the life of Saint John the Baptist, who had the mission to “go before the Lord to prepare his way.” [15] At the very beginning of our life, God prepares us to receive the Lord by oiling us and opening our ears. Openness is attentiveness; we must be attentive to the voice of God, to the life of Christ and to the activity of the Holy Spirit. In the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, the phrase “Let us be attentive” is used eight times.
[1] Baltimore Catechism No. 2; Question 182
[2] Psalm 95
[3] Canticle of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36:24-28) Saturday Morning Prayer, Week IV, Liturgy of the Hours
[4] Sermon for Sexagesima Sunday: Calls to Grace
[5] St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on St. Matthew’s Gospel, 44, 3
[6] Revelation 3:16
[7] Fr. John Hardon
[8] Ephesians 2:8-10
[9] Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy
[10] William Barclay
[11] Order of the Mass; Liturgy of the Eucharist; Preparation of the altar and the gifts
[12] Isaiah 53:7
[13] Philippians 2:8
[14] Roman Catholic Daily Missal [1962]; page 1837
[15] Canticle of Zachariah (Luke 18-79) – Morning Prayer; Liturgy of the Hours