The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends,

The seed in today's parable is the Word of God. The Word comes to all, but all do not receive it in the same manner. Jesus explains to the disciples that He speaks in parables so that those who are unworthy will hear but not understand. All are invited, but only a few will enter in. Many are called, but few are chosen.

In this parable of the seeds, we find an explanation of why so many are rejected — why we all hear the same Word of God, but not all receive it in the same manner. It is often a matter or wonderment that children of the same parents, education, and environment often turn out so vastly different from each other. Jesus is offering us an explanation for this. It has nothing to do with what is offered to them from outside of themselves, and everything to do with what they are on the inside. The gift of the Word is the same and comes to all, but each one has different soil in their souls and so it is received in various manners.

On the same piece of land, we find hard packed pathways, stones, thorns, and good ground. In a family, we find various soils as well. Some souls are like highways where the devils travel freely like birds, and the Word is snatched away as soon as it is heard.

Some souls are like stones where the Word is received but not allowed to enter in and transform the soul. The Word sprouts but has no place for the root to take hold. The Word is received well when they are in the Church but is soon forgotten when they return to the world.

Some souls are like soil containing thorns — cares and riches. These souls receive the Word and it takes root, but all the attention and nourishment of the soil is taken up by worldly concerns. Worldly fear, anxiety, and worry steal the attention of these souls and leave nothing for the seed of the Word of God. Riches appear good, but they are very detrimental to us as they steal the best part of us from God. Such souls should remember that these gifts from God should be used as if they were not used. We must strive to become indifferent to whether we have them or not, and thus give undivided love to God.

Lastly, we see that some seed fell upon good ground and yielded fruit. Those souls of good soil are also of various degrees as were those of poor soil. They yield fruit of various amounts. The better our souls are prepared and are cooperative with the Word of God, the better and more fruit they produce. We have been given a tremendous gift in the True Faith and holy baptism, because Jesus explains this parable to us, and it is not to be hidden from us. We are still in a formative stage of life while we are here on earth. We have not absolutely and unalterably received the Word of God in our souls. We can always better prepare the soil of our souls and correct various defects so that we may yield even better fruit. Or all can be lost to us if we turn good soil into bad.

Thus, we find various soils all in the relative same place of family, parish, or community. We should be cautious that we do not make judgments of ourselves or of others because we do not know what the final outcome will be in the end. The poor soil may become the most fruitful and the best may become the worst. Saul of Tarsus become Saint Paul, and the Apostle Judas became the traitor. Some souls may labor for a long time and lose everything in the end while others may produce a lot of good fruit only in the end. We must reserve judgment until the end when God will reveal everything to us.

Until that time, we are to continue advancing in the cultivation of the soil of our own souls. We must always strive to further till the soil of our souls — softening the soil that was once an open compacted pathway where the birds (devils) enter in freely devouring everything that may fall there. We must remove the stones in our hearts so that we are not only touched by the Word of God but become transformed by It as It penetrates into the depth of our souls. Of course, we must be constantly pulling out the weeds of cares and riches of this world so that only the love and care of the next life allows the Word of God to take root and develop fruit worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is a work that lasts until we draw our final breath in this world. Here on earth, we are never to be satisfied, but always strive to do better, to reach higher, to receive the Word of God even better than we did before.

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