DESIRE, GENEROSITY, AND FREEDOM (Parable of the Sower)

Fr. Johnny C. Go, S.J., School Director

Posted Wednesday, 13-Jul-2005 3:00 PM

This homily was delivered by Fr. Johnny Go at Mary the Queen Parish on 10 July 2005

The best thing about today’s parable is that it comes complete with an explanation, which, in the longer version, immediately follows the telling of the parable. Thanks to the explanation our Lord gives to his disciples, the meaning of the parable is no great mystery.

So a sower went out one day to the field and scattered some seeds, as was the agricultural practice of the day. Some seeds fell on the wayside. The wayside has no soil, so the seeds simply remained on the surface. Soon birds came to eat them up. The seeds never even had the chance.

Other seeds fell on rocky soil: Since there was very little soil here, the seeds grew immediately, but since their roots did not go deep, they soon withered under the sun and died.

Then other seeds fell on thorny ground: There was no problem with the soil here, but after the seeds had grown, the thorns choked them up.

And finally, of course, the rest of the seeds fell on good soil. Obviously it is the good soil that allowed the seed to take root, to grow, and to become productive.

In his explanation, our Lord compares the four types of soil to us and the way we receive God’s word. Our job is to figure out which one best describes our us here and now. So ask yourself: Which of the soil best represents your heart?

Is your heart like the wayside, where the first set of seeds fell, but never had a chance? Is your heart a closed heart? If your heart is already closed in the first place, you will lose God’s word and the chance to let it take root and grow in you. Now, how do you know if your heart is closed? All you need to do is to ask yourself a simple question: “Do you have a desire for God’s word?” In other words: “Do you even want to know what God has to say to you?” If you don’t even have this desire, no matter how loud God speaks to you, chances are, you won’t hear it. If you don’t feel that desire for God’s word right now, that’s all right. Just pray that God gives you this desire so that you’ll be able to open your heart to Him.

Or could it be that your heart is like the rocky soil, where the seeds took root but soon withered and died because their roots never grew deep? Is your heart too shallow for God’s word? Maybe you have a desire to hear God’s word, so that it begins to take root in you, but it doesn’t grow, it doesn’t last. How do you know if your heart is a shallow heart? Just ask yourself how much time you actually spend with God in your life. After all, the only way to allow His word to take root in your life is to make time for Him, praying over His word and giving Him room in your life. If you feel that your heart is like the rocky soil, then you can begin changing that by praying for generosity, the generosity to give God more time in your life.

Perhaps your heart is like the thorny ground, where the seeds take root and actually grow but are soon choked by the thorns? Perhaps your heart is much too cluttered with all sorts of concerns, so that God becomes just one item in a long list of concerns. Maybe you have too many attachments—be they possessions or people—that you end up devoting more time and energy to. If this is the case, you may need to rearrange the furniture of your life as it were. In order to do this, you need to pray for freedom, the freedom to cut yourself from your attachments so that you can prioritize God in yor life.

The good soil is a heart that’s open to God’s word. All of us are invited to become like the good soil that accepts God’s word and allows it to take root in our lives and to bear much fruit. But as we have seen, we can do this only if we have the desire for God’s word, if we are generous enough to make time for him, and finally, if we have the freedom from people and things that keep us from following God’s word.

These are the three graces that will help turn our hearts into the good soil that allows God’s word to bear fruit in our lives: The grace of desire, the grace of generosity, and the grace of freedom. Let us pray that God will grant us the grace—or graces—that we need.

This evening let us also pray for our political leaders, that they too may receive these three graces because only with these graces can they heed God’s word, especially if it entails some form of sacrifice.

JOHNNY C. GO, SJ

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