15th Sunday of the Year
Is 55:10-11; Rom 8:18-23; Mt 13:1-23 (Year A)
The Parable of the Sower and the seed must rank among the most readily identifiable teachings of Jesus. So familiar are its words that we are in danger of ignoring the warning that Jesus attached to this parable: “You will listen and listen again, but not understand, see and see again, but not perceive.”
The parable describes a typical Palestinian field. Such fields are far removed from the perfection of scientific agriculture. They are, to our eyes, a confusion of stones, soil, weeds and bare rock. And yet such unpromising land becomes the seedbed of life. We are that seedbed, that confusing jumble of good and bad. We promise much, and yet are frequently frustrated by our own selfishness. At times we become like rock, unmoving and unyielding in our isolation. We are, despite our many failings, that field chosen and cherished by the Lord.
