In today’s Gospel Story (Matthew 13:1-23) Jesus tells the well-known Parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soil. The majority report in general sees it as a reminder of our responsibility to keep trying to be good soil, to be open to Abba’s word in our life. The minority report sees it pretty much the same, but in a much more personal sense. This Parable can be a reminder that we are all on a journey of conversion. One way to put it — we are created in the image of Abba, and our journey is to become the likeness of Abba. Jesus is the way, and shows us how to live the way. Our commitment is to a personal encounter with him in our every day living. And so, whether we like them or not, everybody in our life is important to us, as we are to them. We are of the presence of Abba to each other.
Today’s readings offer some insights to the Parable itself, and perhaps some personal reflections. We hear the scriptures through the filter of whatever is going on in our life at the time we are hearing them, so they can be very personal if we are open to this. Jesus talks about good soil, which his followers in general want to be, a matter of salvation. For many the idea of salvation is a personal matter between ourselves and Abba — to please Abba so we can get to heaven. For many traditions it is “following the rules”, which differ among traditions. For Jesus salvation is more than just a personal matter. It is a relationship that includes all of us and all creation.
It seems we focus so much on our personal moral lives that we don’t look at social or systematic sin. We are so busy paying attention to personal sins — sexual sins, dirty language, social foibles — that we don’t see our social systems which make people poor and keep them in poverty, let people go unhoused, mistreat and abuse immigrants, condemn others for not living as we think they should, etc. Pope Leo: “First of all, I think it’s very important that the unity or division of the church should not revolve around sexual matters . . . We tend to think that when the church is talking about morality that the only issue of morality is sexual. And in reality, I believe there are greater and more important issues such as justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion that would all take priority before that particular issue.”
If Jesus is asking us to follow him in everyday living, he is asking us to live his compassion. If we don’t know how to do this, we might ask the grace of living it anyway, and let him show us how and what it means in very specific and personal circumstances. The compassion Jesus lived with the people in his life was what he learned from the time he spent with his Abba. Jesus is inviting us to be alert to the people in our life, to ask the grace of living his compassion, even though we might not have any idea of what compassion means in a given situation. Compassion involves being open to folks as they are, as we are, especially in our difficult situations. We all have people in our life who feel lonely, confused, angry, or ignored; we might ask that they may know Abba’s healing love, perhaps even through us. So much of what Abba does in our lives happens through us and the people in our life.
This means that, like Jesus, we need some time with with his, and our, Abba, some prayer practice that we are faithful to every day. Quiet time where we don’t ask or thank, but simply “hang out” with Abba for a few minutes. There are other times during our day where we ask and thank, but this is our quiet time with Abba. As we do this we come to notice changes in how we think, in the values we use to make our choices, and other things. When we are open to it, this becomes a way of living for us, an essential part of our day.
Salvation is a personal matter, but it is in no way a private one. It is not just a matter of “getting to heaven” after we die. It is a matter of growing into the fulness for which we are being created. It begins in our life here and now. It is personal in the sense that each of us has to make our choices in response to Abba happening in our every day living, but it is not private: it includes every one in our life as well as all creation. Everybody in our life has the right and the need to be on our life because in Abba’s loving providence we need each other. In our difficult times we look to discern the loving presence of Abba, to trust, and to live it.
“Thus have you prepared the land: drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods, Softening it with showers, blessing its yield.” These words offer some insight as to how Abba over the years by working in and with us win our daily living has prepared us for where we are today today, something each of us can say if we are open to it. While we undoubtedly have some regrets over things we have done in our past life, if we hadn’t done those dumb things, we would not be where we are now. I’m kinda happy where I am on my journey today. As we look back on our journey we see we have gotten through the rough spots, perhaps with a few scars, but we got through them. We might realize Abba has been with us though it all. This leads us to be aware that in our rough spots today, Abba is still with us in our here and now. So, there is nothing to be afraid of. We ask the grace to consent to, perhaps to welcome, what Abba is doing, and not set limits because we are afraid. Having things go my way is much overrated.
Abba happens in our life as it is, not as we wish it were or as somebody tells us it ought to be. Abba is in our joys as well as our difficulties. We don’t try to understand so we can believe. We believe so that we can understand. This means we ask the grace to recognize Abba happening. The role of the church is not to lead people to Christ, but to help folks recognize Christ already happening in our life, very much in the nitty-gritty. Again Pope Leo: I come “with hunger for justice, with hunger for authentic charity, with hunger for a Church that truly knows how to open the doors, welcome, receive everyone, where there is love for all and where no one is an enemy.” Might not this be a worthwhile goal for us too? And so with everybody in our life, we journey to becoming the good soil. Just sayin . . .