HOMILY FOR THE 15TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A. (5)

HOMILY FOR THE 15TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

THEME: THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER.

BY: Fr. Jude Nnadi.

Readings: Isaiah 55: 10-11; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23

“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” (Mt 13).
Brethren, using a boat in the lake as if a pulpit, Jesus pronounces those lively words in parables which constitute the third of His five speeches on which the spirituality of the Gospel of Matthew is based. He loved to start from the ordinary and daily life of the people, tending them towards higher values.

In our gospel reading today, Jesus offers us a classic agricultural symbol, that of the seed and the Sower. His reference is so concrete and refers to the archaic and contemporary agricultural technique of a Palestinian farmer who is accustomed to throwing the seed in large quantities on the ground rarely fertile. Only after that will he plow where possible to let the seed penetrate the earth. It is then natural that the precarious or adverse conditions of stony or bushy areas prevent the development of the seed. But where the soil is good, the fertility is high, and the result, much abundant.

Here comes the lesson represented by the symbols. The seed, as the first reading from Isaiah also reminds us, evokes not only material but also spiritual reality, and therefore a sign of the divine word, of the incarnate Word itself, of Christ: “If the grain of wheat that fell on the ground dies, it bears much fruit – a plentiful harvest of new lives” (Jn 12:24). It is also a sign of the Kingdom of God, which is being inaugurated in the field of history, as explicitly stated in the parable of the mustard seed we will read in the coming Sunday: “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a mustard seed planted in a field” (Mtt. 13:31).

In the entry of the divine seed into human history, there are two basic reactions. There is the failure of many grains due to large tracts of arid and barren land. On the other side, is the surprising abundance of fruits that blossom from the minority of seeds in the fertile areas. The meaning of the parable at this point becomes transparent. The word of God encounters a vast horizon of indifference, hostility, and rejection. But that does not mean it has to be stopped or discouraged.
The final result then lies in that small portion of fertile land in which the fallen seed is received and made to bear fruit that compensates for the losses of bad lands. It is the spiritual ground of the “little ones”, the poor, the converted, those who broaden their hearts and lives to the word of God, who welcome with enthusiasm and trust the “good news” of the Kingdom which promises forgiveness and lasting peace.

This agricultural symbology is a great reflection on the Kingdom of God, the Church, faith, and work, evil, disbelief and the stubborn refusal of light and good. But the dominant theme is that of hope, well represented by those crops that fell on fertile soil yielding abundant fruits.

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