Parable of the Sower or the Soils?

Reflections for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Isaiah 55:10-11, Romans 8:18-23, & Matthew 13:1-23

How would you name this Sunday's Gospel: Parable of the Sower or Parable of the Soils? The parable of this Sunday is certainly about the Sower for it begins, "A sower went out to sow". There is something that stands out about his sowing technique. Why is the sower wasting seeds throwing them away recklessly on the wayside, stony ground and thorny land? Doesn’t he care enough to sow his precious seeds in the fertile field? The focus of the parable of the Sower is not on the skill of the sower but on the generosity of the Father who makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, sends rain on the just and on the unjust, and sows on all kinds of soil.

Barbara Brown Taylor, in her book, The Seeds of Heaven (2004) writes, What if (the parable) is not about our own successes and failures and birds and rocks and thorns but about the extravagance of a Sower who does not seem to be fazed by such concerns, who flings seed everywhere, wastes it with holy abandon, who feeds the birds, whistles at the rocks, picks his way through the thorns, shouts hallelujah at the good soil and just keeps on sowing, confident that there is enough seed to go around, that there is plenty, and that when the harvest comes, at last, it will fill every barn in the neighbourhood to the rafters? The focus is not on us and our shortfalls but on the generosity of our maker, the prolific sower who does not obsess about the condition of the fields, who is not stingy with the seed but who casts it everywhere, on good soil and bad, who is not cautious or judgmental or even very practical, but who seems willing to keep reaching into his seed bag for all eternity, covering the whole creation with the fertile seed of his truth".

As refreshing as this line of reflection is, I think, we need to disagree with Barbara. The parable is not exclusively about the Sower. It beautifully juxtaposes the generosity of the sower and the receptivity of the four kinds of soil. This is a Parable about the Soils just as much as it is about the Sower. However, focusing on the traditional question ‘What kind of soil are you?’ runs the risk of pigeonholing people into fatalistic typologies! Any of us could be any kind of soil at any given point in time: hardened, stony, thorny or fertile. We are not hardened or fertile all the time. We all have our strong and weak moments. So, it would be better if we ask: ‘What kind of soil are we in this given moment’? and ‘What can I do to treat the field of my heart to become receptive to the Word and thus fruitful?

1. The wayside:

Narrow footpaths run beside and sometimes through the fields. Trodden upon by travellers and animals, the wayside becomes hard as concrete, does not let the seed penetrate, and therefore the seed lies in the open only to be devoured by the birds of the air. Our hearts can become waysides when we “hear the Word but do not understand it” (Matthew 13:19). We pave the way for the enemy to come “immediately” (adds Mark) and take away “the word sown in their hearts” (Mark 4:15), “lest we should believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12). Therapy for the wayside heart involves recognizing the presence of Word that is sown in our concrete life situations and seeking to understand the message of the Gospel to one’s personal and social life.

2. The stony ground:

Palestine is rampant with stony regions where an outcropping of limestone rock is covered by a thin layer of topsoil. This soil looks ready and productive and the seeds that are sown germinate and quickly shoot up. However, since there is no depth of soil and not enough root or moisture (Luke 8:6), the tender shoot withers and dies as soon as the sun beats down on it. Our hearts can become stony grounds when we enthusiastically welcome the Word but fail to engage in a continuous process of formation. Though our initial emotional response endures for a while, we become offended in the face of persecution (Matthew 13:6,21) or afflictions (Mark 4:16-17), and fall away during temptations (Luke 8:13). Therapy of the stony ground requires going engaging in a permanent process of formation that can help our initial emotional response mature into discipleship commitment that can withstand tribulations, trials, and persecutions.

3. Thorny land:

The third kind of soil is plagued by an invisible problem. Even though the soil has been sufficiently tilled and looks ready to produce fruits, there are living roots and seeds of thorns and weeds underneath its surface. Just as the soil receives the seed and springs to life, so do the thorns and weeds, which begin to choke out the tender shoot. Don’t we go through moments in life when we try to respond to the Word while still clinging to what is of the order of the old/past? Discipleship is a call to a radical way of life; a radical way of freedom. The Gospel cannot become one of the other important priorities of our life. It should be the only priority. This is why Paul, in the Second Reading, insists that we share in the hope of the entire creation to be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

4. Fertile field:

This final and best kind of soil, having been ploughed and tilled, receives the Word, and allows the seed to germinate within and upon reaching maturity produces fruit as the Sower intended. Three complementary verbs explain the secret of the fertile land’s receptivity: welcoming the seed with gratitude and thirst; permitting growth by nurturing and caring for the seed that is sown generously; and finally protecting/ preventing the shoot from external threats and damages. The transforming power of the Word requires three fundamental attitudes to bring forth fruits: welcoming, nurturing, and protecting.

The Father, aware of the obstacles that His Word face in the hardened, rocky, and thorny soils, still patiently and generously waits for our receptivity of the soil so that His Word may transform our hardheartedness, lack of depth, and distractions, into productive discipleship. As Isaiah insists in the first reading, “My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will”. Our lives are God’s fields, where the seeds of revelation continue to be sown. There are times when our hearts become too hardened to welcome the Word; our enthusiasm wades in times of hardships; and our efforts to produce fruits face the challenge of distractions from within and without. Let us open our hearts to God’s soil therapy so that we may convert our challenges into fruits.