Today, Jesus introduces the puzzle of evil in the world. Why is evil present in the world? In giving catechesis to their communities, the early Christians tried to make Jesus’ message understandable and practical, applying it to concrete life situations. Biblical scholars today agree that the explanation of the parable, which is portrayed as Jesus telling his disciples privately, may not be directly announced by him. Matthew was presenting a catechetical explanation of it to his Community.
Reflecting on the Parable of the Sower, Pope Francis said, “This Parable is somewhat the ‘mother’ of all parables because it speaks about listening to the Word. It reminds us that the Word of God is a fruitful and effective seed, and God scatters it everywhere, and he pays no attention to the amount of seed wasted.
All are invited to work on these grounds so that when God’s word comes, it can penetrate and transform our lives. The first of the soils is paths with the hard ground; when the seed falls there, the birds of the air come, and if they peck it, nothing is left. The birds that peck the seeds represent in the Bible the temptations of paganism that tried to seduce Israel with their proposals of immoral life.
Even today, the word of God is being pecked at by the birds of pagan concepts or worldly values we are immersed in. The Word of God fails to bear fruit because it cannot penetrate hearts hardened by secularisation and permissive ideologies. We begin to believe that ‘things are OK’ because everyone does them. For example, we carelessly utter insulting and vulgar speeches and still think, ‘it is ok,’ because everyone uses them.
When we come to the Church for the Sunday Eucharistic celebration, but if we are still dazed by the movie scenes we watched late at night, how can we tune our hearts to the Gospel? Instead, we should read the Gospel passage that we will hear in advance and arrive prepared with a cleared and tilled field. Identify those birds who peck the seeds of the Word and make us forget it as soon as we hear it.
Many seeds are lost in the thorns, on the stones, and along the paths. I used to get discouraged when I began these daily reflections of “Coffee with God” three years ago since so few people listened. Today’s Gospel reminds me that I shouldn’t say, ‘Since people are not interested, I no longer proclaim the Gospel.’ The solution is to sow more; the sowing must be more abundant to find the good soil present in everyone!
Father Josekutty Mathew CMF
