Matthew 13:1-9

Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15

Psalm 78:18-19, 23-24, 25-26, 27-28

Matthew 13:1-9

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.

Such large crowds gathered around him

that he got into a boat and sat down,

and the whole crowd stood along the shore.

And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:

“A sower went out to sow.

And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,

and birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.

It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,

and when the sun rose it was scorched,

and it withered for lack of roots.

Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.

But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,

a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you sent your Son into the world to sow the good seed of the Kingdom. I want my heart to be rich soil that welcomes the seed of your Word and produces supernatural fruit for the Kingdom. Soften my heart if it is hard and stubborn, remove any rocky obstacles, and cleanse it of any weeds or thorns.

Encountering the Word of God

1. A Generous Sower: One of the more difficult questions in theology is how to integrate God’s all-powerful, all-knowing nature with our human freedom. If, on the one hand, we emphasize that God knows all things and that everything unfolds according to his eternal plan, how do we defend our freedom? If, on the other hand, we emphasize that we are free, how do we defend that God knows everything and determines how all created things will unfold in time? Maybe God looks ahead to the future and only gives the gift of his saving grace to those who will cooperate with it and merit eternal life? Some theologians argue for this. The Parable of the Sower, however, seems to imply a different solution: that God is a generous, not miserly, Sower. He sows the seed of his word not only on rich soil, but also on the path, on rocky ground, and among thorns. The Divine Sower offers the grace of salvation to all people (1 Timothy 2:4).

2. Respecting Our Freedom: As evidenced in the Parable of the Sower, God truly respects our freedom. When God offers us his grace, this offer does not take away our free acceptance of his gift: “Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life” (CCC, 1996). We merit eternal life first because God has freely chosen to associate us with the work of his grace. The Fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative, and then follows man’s free acting through his collaboration, so that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful. Man’s merit, moreover, itself is due to God, for his good actions proceed in Christ, from the predispositions and assistance given by the Holy Spirit (CCC, 2008). The work of God’s grace “precedes, prepares, and elicits the free response of man. Grace responds to the deepest yearnings of human freedom, calls freedom to cooperate with it, and perfects freedom” (CCC, 2022). The pathway soil can be broken up and fertilized. The rocky soil can be cleared and watered. The thorny soil can be weeded.

3. Bread and Flesh for God’s Children: In the First Reading, we learn about the exodus of the children of Israel from Elim to Sinai. As they passed through the desert of Sin, they began to grumble against Moses and Aaron. They began to long for the bread and the fleshpots they enjoyed in Egypt, even while they were enslaved. They accuse Moses of leading them out into the wilderness to die of famine. The Lord God responds to the grumbling of the people by sending them manna and quail. Will the people continue to long for the bread of Egyptian slavery or be satisfied with the daily manna that the Lord provides? Will the people continue to long for the fleshpots of Egyptian slavery or be satisfied with the quail that the Lord provides? Will we long to fill ourselves with the sinful bread the world offers or the heavenly bread the Lord provides?

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, do not let me become indifferent to your Word, or succumb under trial, or be overcome by the anxieties of this passing world. I need your grace, your Word, and your Spirit to produce good and abundant fruit that will last.

Living the Word of God: Am I listening to God’s Word each day with an open and welcoming heart? Do I allow God’s Word to transform my ways of thinking and acting? What obstacles are there to producing abundant fruit for the Kingdom of God?