By Father Paul Nord
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11; Responsorial: Psalm 65:10-14; Second Reading: Romans 8:18-23; Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23
In today’s Gospel, Jesus recounts the “Parable of the Sower.” Usually, Jesus does not explain his parables, but he explains this one to his disciples. By contrast, Jesus does not explain this parable to the crowds. Jesus tells his disciples that he does this “because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.”
In his “Parable of the Sower,” Jesus suggests that “the word of the kingdom” is similar to the many seeds sown by a sower. This “word” can take root in human hearts and bear abundant fruit. When this word takes root within a person, he grows in his belonging to “the kingdom of heaven.”
But Jesus points to several conditions that prevent this “word” from bearing fruit in a person’s heart. In the parable, some seed is sown “on the path.” This refers to those who do not understand “the word of the kingdom.” Other seed falls “on rocky ground,” which refers to a person who falls away when persecuted because “he has no root.” Still more seed is “sown among thorns.” This illustrates the situation of the person for whom worldly anxiety or “the lure of riches” causes the word to be choked out and bear no fruit. This last example is particularly relevant to modern life.
Jesus criticizes those who do not understand his Parable of the Sower. He says such people “look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.” They do not receive “the word of the kingdom” in a way that it can take root and bear fruit within them.
Today’s reading from Isaiah also speaks of God’s “word” in a manner similar to today’s Gospel. Isaiah compares God’s word to “the rain and snow” which God provides from heaven. The rain and snow cause the earth to be “fertile and fruitful.” Likewise, God’s word bears fruit when he speaks it.
The Lord God says: “so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” This might remind us of Genesis 1:3 in which God says: “Let there be light, and there was light.” As God gives command after command, he causes all of creation to come into being. When God speaks, his word has immediate effect. God’s word causes life to come into existence — all the creatures of the earth and sky. Thus it is particularly appropriate that the prophet Isaiah compares God’s word to rain and snow which enable plant life to grow and flourish. Further, this plant life nourishes humanity. It gives “bread to the one who eats.” But God’s word gives us life in a far richer sense.
Today’s Responsorial is the last five verses of Psalm 65, which focus on the harvest and God’s bountiful blessings. The first stanza praises God for giving water so that the grain might grow to feed his people. The second stanza begins with three parallel phrases: “drenching its furrows,” “breaking up its clods,” and “softening it with showers.” These three phrases provide complementary imagery — all describing how the falling rain transforms the earth to make it fertile. In this way, God is “blessing its yield.” This is a poetic way of saying that God sends his rain to water the earth so that his people have an abundant harvest to eat.
The third stanza focuses on the harvest imagery. First: “You have crowned the year with your bounty.” Scenes from an abundant harvest follow: “your paths overflow” and “the untilled meadows overflow.” The Hebrew original repeats this same verb — “overflow.” This emphasizes the abundance of God’s harvest. The final stanza describes pastures covered with flocks and valleys full of grain. Indeed “they shout and sing for joy!”
In today’s second reading, St. Paul writes to the Romans: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” Notice the three contrasts: 1) suffering versus glory, 2) the present versus the future, and 3) the smallness of our present suffering versus the greatness of our future glory. This third contrast is similar to Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:17: “For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
Next, Paul says: “For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God” (8:19). Paul compares this eager expectation to labor pains in 8:22: “all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now.” In this verse, Paul twice uses the Greek prefix “syn-” which means “co-” or “with.” Paul says that all creation “groans together” and “suffers labor pains together.” This image of labor pains communicates fervent expectation in which “all creation” participates in unison. This image depicts groaning and intense desire for its realization.
In this reading’s final line, Paul describes the object of our desire: “adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” As God’s adopted sons and daughters, we eagerly await the resurrection of the body when Christ comes again in glory. Christ’s return, the parousia, is the object of the desire and groaning of all creation and of ourselves also. Indeed, Paul says, “all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now … we also groan within ourselves.”
Paul observes that as Christ’s disciples we “have the firstfruits of the Spirit.” In 2 Corinthians 1:22 and 5:5, Paul calls the Spirit a “first installment” which anticipates the fullness of God’s life and blessing which we hope to receive when Christ returns. In that future age, we anticipate “that creation itself” will “be set free from slavery to corruption.” This is analogous to the freedom from corruption which Christ’s disciples will know in “the resurrection of the body.” As Revelation 21:1 says, there will be “a new heaven and a new earth” — all creation will be made anew.