The way to sow - Fifteenth Sunday of the Year A 13 July 2014

Fifteenth Sunday of the Year A 13 July 2014

Matthew 13: 1-23

José Antonio Pagola

The way to sow

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 On finishing telling the story of the parable of the sower, Jesus makes this call: “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” We are asked to pay a lot of attention to the parable. But what have we to reflect on? On the sower? On the seed? On the different kinds of soil?

 Traditionally, we Christians have paid attention almost exclusively to the kinds of soil on which the seed falls, to reflect on our attitude in listening to the Gospel. However, it is important to pay attention to the sower and his way of sowing.

 It’s the first thing the story says: “The sower went out to sow.” He does so with surprising confidence. He sows abundantly. The seed falls and keeps falling all around, even where it seems difficult for the seed to germinate. This is how the Galilean peasants sowed, by sowing even along the borders of the paths and on stony ground.

 For the common people it is not difficult to identify the sower. It’s the way Jesus sowed his message. They see him go out every morning to proclaim the Good News of God. He sows his Word among the simple folk who receive him, and also among the scribes and Pharisees who reject him. He is never discouraged. His sowing will not be sterile.

 Overwhelmed by a strong religious crisis, we may think that the Gospel has lost its original power and that the message of Jesus no longer has any attraction to draw the attention of men and women today. Certainly it is not the time to harvest extraordinary success, but to learn to sow without being discouraged, with more humility and truth.

 It is not the Gospel that has lost its humanizing power; it is we who proclaim it with a weak, vacillating faith. It is not Jesus who has lost the power to attract. It is we who have drained him of his appeal with our incoherence and contradictions.

 Pope Francis says that when a Christian does not live a strong adhesion to Jesus, “he soon loses enthusiasm and gives up being sure of what he is transmitting; he lacks power and passion. And a person who is not convinced, enthusiastic, certain, and enamored, convinces no one.

 To evangelize is not to spread a doctrine, but to make present within a society and in the hearts of people the humanizing and saving power of Jesus. And this cannot be done in just any way. What’s important is not the number of preachers, catechists and teachers of religion, but the evangelical quality Christians can radiate. What is it we spread like a contagion? Indifference or convinced faith? Mediocrity or a passion for a more humane way of life?

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Translated by Rev. Fr. Valentine de Souza S.J.

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