The gospel this weekend is the Parable of the Seed and the Sower, the first parable that Jesus taught in Matthew’s gospel. What is a parable? And, why did Jesus use a parable to teach and stress a point about the Kingdom of God? A parable is commonly defined as “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” It is meant to draw and bring us to heavenly realities by looking and examining human or earthly situations or realities. It invites us to make conclusions that lead to specific actions. They are not just meant to be reflected cognitively, but should lead one to a change of heart, thus bringing the person closer and closer to the ways of God. As a biblical scholar puts it, Jesus used parables because “he wanted to persuade the people to pass a judgment on things with which they were all acquainted, and then to compel them to transfer that judgment to something whose
significance they had been blind.” The
Catholic Encyclopedia writes that "there are no parables in St. John's Gospel; in the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke) ... we reckon thirty-three in all, but some have raised the number to sixty, by including proverbial expressions." The
Gospel of Luke has both the largest total number of parables (24) and eighteen unique parables; the
Gospel of Matthew has 23 parables of which eleven are unique; and the
Gospel of Mark contains eight parables of which two are unique.
In the parable of the seed and the sower, Jesus provides us with four kinds of ground where the word of God (seed) could be sowed:
path way/way side ground – anyone could walk up and down. The result was that seeds that fell on this ground were beaten as hard as pavement by the feet of countless passers-by. Seeds that fell on this ground might as well have fallen on the road for the chance it had of getting into the ground is close to none.
rocky ground – it had no depth. If the seed fell there, it would sprout quickly, but the moisture and the nourishment it needed to withstand the heat of the sun were simply not there, and it soon withered and died.
thorny ground – weeds grow alongside the seed. The weeds grow more strongly than the good seeds. There was only one possible result: the good seed had the life choked out of it.
good ground – it is receptive enough to take the seed in; it had depth to allow the seed to let down its roots and draw the nourishment and moisture it needed; it was clean enough to give the seed an unhindered chance to grow.
Looking at our own selves as the “ground” where the word of God is sowed, what kind of soil/ground are we? We all receive the same kind of seed (faith) in virtue of our baptism, but the growth of that seed depends on what kind of ground it finds in us. Let us always make sure that the ground, that is us, is always tilled properly so that the word of God will truly take root in us, grow in us, flourish in us, and bear fruit in us. Happy tilling! – Fr. Cary