In my mind there are three messages from this great Parable of the Sower from our Gospel for today (Matt 13:1-23) You can see and hear me give this Homily on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX8aF6nNbZ8
The first is that lots of religious activity, or lots of good deeds, are no good unless they are rooted in a deep openness to God. The second is that when we think we have made it and are not prepared to listen, we are in trouble. And the third is that there is no standard response to God - thirtyfold rather than hundredfold is ok.
In my long life as a priest, I have had to learn that those who are incredibly enthusiastic and active members of the church can face burn-out and give up altogether, like the seed that falls on rocky soil; and this includes some priests, and therefore is a warning to all of us. They can be so impressively enthusiastic in the practice of the faith that we cannot believe that they too can fail. They are usually very worthy people whose activity can take a number of forms. There are first those who are very religious, who will even tell me how often they say the Rosary, or get to Mass, or get involved in other pious activities. They seem to think that being a Christian requires them to fill their life in this way. It may work for them for years, but I know at least one person like this who was only brought up short when Covid forced them to stay at home, and suddenly they could no longer see any point in what they had been doing. Others become too active in helping out at church events. They are the sort who are wonderful at always producing lots of cakes and serving the tea and coffee, and doing the cleaning etc. ; then suddenly one day they realise that all this activity has got them nowhere and they give it all up. Then there are those who build up a life of good works, involved in this charity or that, and helping endless neighbours and friends, but then, having exhausted themselves, they too give it all up.
So all these people are just the sort that Jesus is talking about when he speaks of the seed that sprouts up vigorously, but has no roots. Unless our faith is rooted in a gentle trust in God, and not in what we do, then we will always be in danger, for our house has been built by ourselves on sand, and not on the rock that is Christ. St Benedict, whose day we celebrated last Tuesday, knew this well when he wrote his Rule for Monks. He wisely insisted that we must all maintain a balance in our life so that neither work nor prayer nor rest is too dominant. Each is part of our loving response to God, but if we work too hard or pray too much and never rest, then our activity is all on the surface and has no root; and if we laze around too much without work or prayer then we fail in a different way. However sadly, many Christians tend to think that their main sin is being too lazy, when actually being too busy is more likely to be the problem most Christians face; and even prayer can be such a busy thing that it gives no time for God!
And being too busy is surely what Jesus is getting at when he says that some people “Listen and listen again, but do not understand, see and see again, but do not perceive.” He is of course taking another crack at the scribes and the pharisees, who thought that they had their relationship with God sorted, who had become self-satisfied and were not open to any new thing God might be saying to them. They had forgotten the message from the Old Testament of Abraham travelling from his home to another land, and of the whole people of Israel doing the same many years later as they travelled through the desert; and that message was that life with God is always a journey, a pilgrimage, a looking onward. St Paul expresses this in our 2nd Reading today (Romans 8:18-23). He writes of “The glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us.” and how “We groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free.” Once again, the message is clear, if we think we have heard all that needs to be heard, that there is nothing new to be learnt, if we have in effect learnt it all off by heart, then even when we hear new things, we may listen but not really hear; or as Jesus says to the Pharisees elsewhere, it is because they claim that they can see, that they are blind. (John 9:39-41)
But the final message of this Parable is perhaps the most important, because Jesus teaches us that provided we bear fruit, then the amount doesn’t matter. It explains why, even if we could offer prayers twenty four hours a day, even if we could do good until we ached, while we rely on what we do for God we have missed the point. We all know that 30% in an exam means we fail, but Jesus disagrees. Whether we produce a hundredfold, or sixtyfold or thirtyfold makes no difference to God. It is the same message as those who work only one hour in the field getting the same pay as those who work all day; or that if our faith is as tiny as a mustard seed, it is enough. But let’s face it, most of us don’t like idea of only scoring 30% for God, which is why we need to hear that the seed that produces thirtyfold is fine. Strictly speaking, there is nothing we can offer to God, and that is why the Mass is so important, because the Mass is not our offering to God, but simply our acceptance from him of what he has given to us, the one perfect offering of Jesus in his life and on the cross.
The special Christian word for offering is “oblation” and in the prayers at Mass the priest asks that we may become part of that “eternal offering” as we recognise “the sacrificial Victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to yourself.” Essentially therefore a Christian is not someone who does things for God, however good and worthy they may be, but someone who always has his or her eyes and ears open to all that God has done, and is still doing for us; and what he may be leading us to in the future. God is not a static thing, but is an ever- expanding energy at work, not just in us but in every part of the Universe; or as St Paul calls it in every part of Creation - “Groaning in one great act of giving birth.” That is surely why modern scientists have discovered that the Universe is always expanding, always growing. God is at work, and we need to be open to where he is taking us, rather than being too busy doing our own thing, however good or holy it may be, to respond to him.
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