Here is my homily for today, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Over the next few Sundays, we will hear many of the parables told by Jesus. Parables are stories designed by Jesus to help us understand the deeper realities of the good news. This Sunday Jesus compares the Word of God to seeds – tiny things that grow into something greater than themselves. Under the right conditions, Jesus says, small beginnings can yield a rich harvest.
Sometimes the Word of God has a dramatic effect, but it often encounters resistance in one place in particular – the human heart. Jesus knew that many who heard Him preach were transformed, but many were not. Today’s parable gives us some reasons for this. Everyone can receive the Word of God, Jesus said, just as the farmer scatters seed indiscriminately. But one must first prepare the “soil” of one’s heart if that Word is to make any lasting difference. Farmers then and now continue to sow seed despite knowing some of it will be lost or less than fruitful. Jesus told His disciples it would be the same with the good news. And He challenged His listeners then and now to apply this parable to themselves.
Each of us needs to ask just how effectively the Word of God is growing in us individually. Each of us must ask ourselves just how receptive and spiritually fruitful we are. Jesus defined four different levels of gospel receptivity by comparing four different types of soil. The obstacles farmers face from birds, rocks, thorns and hard-packed soil illustrate the stumbling blocks one faces after hearing the good news. What obstacles? Jesus identified several: deficient understanding, the work of the evil one, lack of rootedness, trial and persecution, worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and so on. All these stumbling blocks, and others, stand in the way of the Word of God taking deep root and bearing fruit in us. Every hearer of the Word is called to work to remove any stumbling blocks from his or her life. Every hearer of the Word is to become and to remain “good soil.” Much more must be done than just making a one time choice to follow Jesus.
I suspect most of us here in church don’t need to worry about being the soil on the footpath or the soil filled with rocks. If we were those kinds of soil, we would likely have stopped coming to Mass a long time ago. But most of us do need to avoid being or becoming the “seed among thorns” where “the thorns grew up and choked it.” The seed among thorns doesn’t die; it just doesn’t bear any fruit. In explaining the meaning of the parable, Jesus pointed out two things that choke the Word of God and its fruitfulness in our lives: “worldly anxiety” and “the lure of riches.”
“Worldly anxiety” can be defined as those worries associated with life here on earth. We have lots to be worried about: wars, epidemics, finances, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, health issues, and so on. Anxiety and worry can choke out the Gospel in our lives by making us fearful and thus unable either to live or to spread the good news.
Let’s say someone knocked on your door and said, “I’ve got the greatest news to tell you,” but his face looked worried, and his legs were shaking. You might think to yourself, “If you have such good news, why do you look so unhappy? Why are you shaking in fear?” When others view us as consistently negative, constantly distressed by the news in and around the world, always predicting future disasters and woes, their glass always half empty, constantly complaining, worried, and voicing anxieties; where’s the good news of the gospel in that? Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount: “do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on…” (Matthew 6:25) “Do not worry” is a direct command of Jesus Christ. And with good reason. Why? Because obeying that commandment will increase our spiritual fruitfulness.
Jesus also focused on another impediment to fruitfulness – “the lure of riches.” In a wealthy nation like ours, another threat to Christian spiritual growth is the constant temptation to overvalue security and comfort. It is easy to become more concerned with our bank accounts and 401(k) plans than with eternal life. Our lives can become so full of “stuff” and earthly activities that there is little or no space left for God. God and His will for us are easily ignored when we become preoccupied with the things of earth. Our material possessions, temptations of the flesh, and other ultimately meaningless pursuits divert us from what should be our ultimate goal – the Kingdom of God. Our Christian witness is not fruitful when we become too absorbed in making money, making friends, watching sports, eating good food, pursuing our hobbies, and the like. That is not the lifestyle of a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Today’s gospel challenges us to ask: What kind of soil am I? How can I remove the thorns and weeds in my life and become richer soil? Just how much fruit is my faith producing?