Fr. Michael Williams

In the gospels the crowds gather round Jesus for many different reasons. The individuals, who made up the crowd in today’s gospel, would have had many different motivations for gathering around the Lord. Some people were probably just curious; maybe some people had been encouraged by friends and family to be there; perhaps some people were there hoping to witness a miracle; certainly some of the crowd appeared to sense that Jesus was the Saviour promised by God.

Like “the crowds that gathered round him” in today’s gospel, we too gather round the Lord. We need to ask ourselves what are our motivations for gathering round Him?

Whatever our reasons for being here Jesus desires to draw us closer to Himself. The Lord tends to draw people to Himself gradually; that is His preferred way of working. We can see that from the gospel reading today. In the parable of the sower, Jesus gains the attention of his audience, by presenting a rather puzzling story to them. He begins by saying, “Imagine a sower going out to sow” and so He engages the peoples’ imagination.

Once He has finished telling the story it appears that the crowds disperse. Satisfied with the little story many people go home. But those who choose to remain are the Lord’s disciples. They know that Jesus is more than just a good story teller. They know He is the One who reveals the truth about “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”. That is why they choose to stay in His presence. They want to know more about Him and His Kingdom.

For those first disciples, following Jesus, was like going on a journey. It was a journey leading deeper and deeper into true reality. It is the same for us. Following Jesus is about going on a journey deeper and deeper into the reality about God. Being a disciple of Jesus can never be a static experience. Because if we stand still in our discipleship we have stopped following Him.

To the disciples who wanted to find out more about the Lord’s teaching, Jesus goes on to explain the meaning of the parable. He tells the disciples that “the word of the kingdom” is like a vulnerable seed that needs protecting and nurturing.

First of all it needs protecting from the Evil One. In Matthew’s gospel when Jesus teaches the disciples His prayer, the Our Father, it ends with the appeal to the Father, “save us from the Evil One”. Unfortunately, many people in the modern world have become blind to this reality. But Jesus knew about the dangers of this force of evil that has intelligence and a will. That is why we pray to God to save us from it.

Another danger to “the word of the kingdom” when it is planted within, are trials and persecutions, that can lead one to give up following Jesus and opt for the easy life instead. The easy life of no groaning no suffering and no cross. Every follower of Christ must have a cross of some form: “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me”, says the Lord.

Another hazard to “the word of the kingdom”, planted in the human heart, is “the worries of this world and the lure of riches”. The word is so easily choked today in people’s hearts that are only concerned, and so coarsened, by excessive materialism and self-indulgence. Jesus asks later in Matthew’s gospel, “What will anyone gain by winning the whole world and forfeiting his life”?

For “the word of the kingdom” to yield an abundant harvest it needs to fall “in rich soil”. This is no random process. It is in our own power to make our hearts fertile ground for God’s word through daily prayer. The reception of the Sacraments of the Eucharist allows God’s Word to grow within us, and so produce the fruit of charity, which is the love of God and neighbor. It’s also worth saying that the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession), especially helps to remove the weeds of sin from our hearts, which are a barrier to God’s life growing within us.

So let’s pray that we will be fertile ground for God’s word, so that our daily lives will produce a good harvest; that the word which goes from the mouth of the Lord will succeed in what it was sent to do, namely produce a harvest of goodness.