Jesus was notorious for using parables to get His gospel message across to the crowds who gathered to listen to Him. All the parables are great, but in my opinion the best and most meaningful parable that applies to this book is "The Sower of the Good Seed." This parable can be found in three out of the four Gospels, and unlike other parables it is told pretty much in the same way in each gospel. Below is the parable as it is written in Mark chapter 4:
4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
This parable has so much rich meaning. You and I have been given the seed of the gospel. We have responded in one of the four ways presented by Christ. Perhaps on your faith journey the seed reached a different place then it is currently. I for one, once had my seed in shallow ground. I endured a trial that made me give up on God, and my plant withered and almost died. But through God's grace another seed was sent and I was able to grow deeper roots in better soil. I hope that I will be able to produce much fruit. I hope you too, my dear reader, will be able to produce much fruit.
Awe yes, but then comes the time when we go sow the earth with the Lord. Our hearts burn with the same pain He has, when we see the seeds snatched by the jaws of the devil. Tears fall from our face as our friends stop going to RCIA after they were once so zealous of going. We feel disappointing when our Bible study goes from ten members to five; because some people just don't have time for God like they did in the past. Our hearts drop to the pit of our stomach, as we watch our children who we raised in the faith, become like the world in their actions and not like God. We put our face in our palms, as we see the empty pews, that were once filled with our fellow parishioners. This can all be disheartening. But maybe just maybe, one of the seeds will slip out of the devil's jaw, hit good soil and blossom into a saint. Maybe just maybe, our friends will get baptized on their deathbed. Maybe just maybe, the five people in our Bible study will make Bible studies twice the size of our own. Maybe just maybe, we will greet our children with open arms as they enter through the gates of Heaven. Maybe just maybe, we will be bumping elbows with our fellow parishioners around the throne of God.
Why might this be? It is because we were given the secret of the kingdom of heaven and responded wholeheartedly to it. We bore much fruit and spread it to the people around us. While we are on the topic of seeds I want to spend a little more time talking about a different kind of seed. The Lord commands us to be fruitful. However you can only be fruitful if your seedful. When you can identify your seed you can go on and be fruitful. Study yourself and see what your good at. Then use those talents to be bring fruit to the world. For example you could be handy, go use your handiness with Habitat for Humanity, or go help a poor neighbor who has a leak in their roof. Maybe your really funny, you can use your humor to brighten your co-workers and client's gloomy days. Perhaps your a innovator and a leader, maybe you can take these talents to start a mission out reach for the homeless.
Don't just stop at identifying your own seeds. Identify the seeds in the families and friends around you, and share it with them. In fact if your a parent you are called to identify and cultivate the seeds in your own kids. I am forever grateful for my own parents for doing this with me. Without them telling me that "I could be a great spiritual writer," this book would have never been written.
In the late 1800s Fr. Charles Arminjon, a famous French preacher, slated "The fatal error and great plague of our century is the absence of the sense of the supernatural, and the profound neglect of the great truths of the future life." Two centuries later we can still say his quote still rings true for our generation. Let us wake up to the seeds God planted in our souls, and pray that the rest of the world follows suit.
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