15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 13:1-9)
Allegory isn’t something we often use in our daily conversation. Usually, we say things plainly. But Jesus used allegory a lot. We especially see that in the parables Jesus told.
Jesus had a certain pattern in his storytelling. His examples operated on two levels. The first level was the conventional level. Jesus would talk about objects people used in daily life. Or he would speak of a situation that came up in human experience. He might talk about salt, for instance. We all know what salt is. We know we use it for seasoning. We might use it as preservative. We know how it tastes. We are familiar with its color. Jesus would point to salt saying the kingdom of heaven is like salt. He would then leave the conventional understanding. He would move on to use salt to explain some spiritual truth. He might ask a question like, “What if salt goes flat?” He would teach about how believers can lose enthusiasm.
He would also speak of common tasks that peasants would perform in village life. He might speak of baking bread. He might allude to weeding the garden. He might refer to a joke that everyone knew, putting a new twist on it. The question for the listeners to think about was where they might fit into the story the Lord tells.
We hear the parable of the Sower and the seed in the Gospel today. When we reflect on the whole story, it might lead us in one direction. If we break the story into parts, it might lead in another direction. For instance, how often do we ask what the seed that was sown might represent. Who might the seed be?
Perhaps the seed could represent the children of the world. Parents might consider the seed to be their children. Grandparents might instantly think of their grandchildren. If we don’t have children, we might meditate on the seed as the children in our neighborhood. As a church community we might consider all the youngsters in the parish. The seed we have is full of potential. The seed Jesus refers to could be the children of today.
If the seed symbolizes our children maybe the soil represents their experience of religious formation. We might imagine what kind of soil we are planting our children in. Some of our children might be planted on the margins of society so they fall along the side of the foot path. Perhaps because they are on the margins their religious formation could easily be forgotten and stopped before they ever get started. Maybe such children struggle with language. Maybe they live in poverty. Children on the margins might never have opportunities to learn about Jesus.
Other children might begin catechesis but then have their faith life choked off by the weeds of pessimism. Adults might not care. Some people could say, “I raised my children, let somebody else catechize the children of the next generation.”
Another set of children might get a good start in religious formation and start to grow but then they might not have the mentors they need in their teenage years. And they wither. We need good religious formation like we need good soil. Faithful witnesses are a big part of good soil.
Another thing the parable reminds us, is that the things we plant and nurture are often not going to benefit us. We are reaping the harvest of faith that was planted long ago. What we sow today, and what we take care of today will be harvested in years to come. Our days on this earth are limited. Why should we care? Such an attitude isn’t the way the Lord looked at things.
We need to plant the seeds of the next generation in good Catholic Schools. We need to sow the seeds, that are our children, in good religious education programs. Mostly, we who are mature in faith need to share ourselves with those who are just beginning to follow Jesus. People who bring in the harvest in years to come will benefit from the fact that we have sown good seeds in good soil. Let’s do some planting, weeding, and watering when we have the opportunity.