I don’t need to tell you we live in a very complicated world! We don’t have to look too far to see the realities of poverty, hunger, wars, discrimination, hatred, the lack of peace, all kind of violence, anger, racism, injustices, and the list goes on. But as followers of Jesus, we can never be content as long as these situations exist in this world in which we live. And of course, as Christians we must not in any way contribute to the presence of such evils. Even as long as just one child goes to bed hungry at night, we as Christians must never believe that “all is well” and that our work is done.
And so, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be active participants in the presence of the Kingdom of God in the world in which we live. This involves sacrifice and work on our part. This means that we must be busy about the work of building the Kingdom and that our lives must give some type of radical witness to the faith we have. Our lives must be different from those who are not followers of Jesus and this should be obvious for all to see. Because we believe in the Word of God and its power, we must actively seek to solve the problems of our world and in doing so, be instruments of the building of the Kingdom of God. I hope you agree that as Christians, we don’t have the choice of saying no to this responsibility.
The Word of God is Jesus; his message about the coming of the Kingdom and its power in our lives must cause us to listen and to see! And so we might ask ourselves if we have fully accepted the Word of God, and everything it demands of us! This is the mandate of today’s Gospel. For this reason, the Parable of the Sower and the Seed asks us to contemplate different possible responses to the introduction of the Word of God into our lives (see Matthew 13:1-23).
I think all of us, because we desire to be good Christians who are strongly rooted in the Word of God, hope to be like those seeds that fell on good soil. Such seeds are like those people deeply rooted in the Word of God and who produce much fruit. But isn’t it true (if you are anything like me), we all pray the three types of seeds that don’t bear fruit are not illustrations of whom we actually are, or whom we might become. I think all of us want to believe our lives give testimony to our solid faith in the Word of God, and that we have strong roots planted on good soil! And so, let’s remember not to become caught up in “worldly cares and the enjoyment of wealth” and become like those seeds sown among thorns which gave root to plants that were choked and died before bearing any fruit. Let’s not, because of possible “troubles or persecutions,” be like those seeds sown on rocky and shallow soil which produced promising, but rootless, plants that were scorched by the rising sun and died before bearing any fruit. Let’s not, because of a lack of understanding of the Word of God, be like those seeds sown along the road which produced no plants at all because they were snatched away by the evil one before any root could take hold.
Jesus tells us “blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear.” And so may this describe each one of us. For if so, then we can be confident we are bearers of the Word of God, and that we are able to actively participate in the building of the Kingdom of God among us. I believe if this describes us, then we can have confidence that someday no child will ever again go to bed hungry, that there will be no more wars, that there will be no more drug and alcohol addiction, that there will be no more fear, violence and sorrow, that there will no longer be infidelity among spouses, that families will not be divided, that there will be no more discrimination against people who are simply different, that there will be no more economic injustice, that there will be no more poverty, and that there will be no more sin. Let’s live in hope for the coming of such a Kingdom, and like the seed planted on good soil, let’s never fail to do our part in the quest to make our world a better place for all. My friends, let’s encourage each other with this message!
Praise God! Friar Timothy
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