From the Holy Gospel according to the Apostle and Evangelist Saint Luke (Lk 8: 5-15)
At that time, Jesus said, "The sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, part fell down the road and was trampled, and the birds of the sky devoured them. Another part fell on the stone which sprouted and withered away quickly for lack of moisture. Another fell among the thorns, these thorns, grew with it, and chocked the vegetation. Another fell on the good earth, sprouted and yielded a hundred times as much". He then exclaimed: "He who has ears to understand, means!".
His disciples questioned him about the meaning of the parable. And he said, "You are given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others only in parables, seeing they do not see and hearing they do not mean.
The meaning of the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The seeds fallen along the way a
re those who have heard it, but then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they do not believe and so are not saved. Those on stone are those who, when they hear, welcome the word with joy, but have no root; they believe for a certain time, but in the hour of temptation they fail.
The seed that fell in the midst of thorns are those who, after listening, along the way let themselves be overwhelmed by the worries, wealth and pleasures of life and do not reach maturity. The seed fallen on the good earth are those who, after listening to the word with a good and perfect heart, guard it and produce fruit with their perseverance".
REFLECTION
Dear brothers in Christ, peace and goodness be yours!
On this 20th Sunday after Pentecost, we heard the Gospel passage concerning the parable of the Sower. But what does "parable" mean?
The term parable comes from the Greek "parabolé" which literally means "comparison and similitude". Note that in rabbinic literature this term is called משל) IPA /ma' al/), literally "example". ʃ
It is a didactic tale that differs from myth, allegory and fable. It is a way of expressing oneself using concrete examples based on the comparison between two situations: a known and an unknown one.
The Lord often spoke in parables with simple people, especially for those who for various reasons had not had the opportunity to learn, precisely with the purpose of illustrating in a simple way complex concepts. This encouraged an immediate understanding with the intention
of allowing the passage of the listeners - forming a way, for them habitual, to understand and interpret the words expressed and the events narrated, via a new foreign and unusual mode.
1. The earth and the seed
The icon of this Sunday, as you can see, is that of the good Sower where in the sower is symbolized the Son of God, who sows among the people the word of the Father. In fact, the theme of this parable is centered on the soil that receives and welcomes the seed: the Word of God, the true Bread that came down from Heaven. This terrain is represented in four completely different ways: the road, the stone, the thorns and the good earth.
Hence, we must be mindful of the exhortation concerning the seed "falls" and this does not mean that it is thrown by force or negligence, but it means the exact opposite. Saint John Chrysostom enlightens us via his homily on this parable stating that:
"The Lord said this parable to show that he dispensed his word to everyone with generosity. As the sower does not distinguish the ground below, but simply casts the seed without making distinctions, so he also does not distinguish between the rich and the poor, between the wise and the ignorant, between those who are negligent and those who are full of zeal, between those who are brave and those who are vile, but he speaks to everyone and does what depends on him, although he foresees what will happen".
The road
The first scenario is that of the road. The first part of the seed fell on it but was trampled and the birds devoured it.
The seeds that have fallen on the road, the Lord explains, are those who have heard the word of God, but then the devil comes and takes the word away from their hearts, so that they do not believe and so are not saved.
Again Saint John Chrysostom says: "But from what comes, tell me, that most of the sowing has been lost? Not because of the one who sowed the seed, but because of the earth that received it, that is, of the one who does not listen".
The kind of man who is assimilated to the terrain along the way is one who does not really believe, who has no spiritual desire or conviction. Demons immediately take away the word from their hearts - oftentimes via the power of suggestion! No seed can penetrate a beaten and hardened road and for this reason it is trampled or remains prey to birds.
My dear brothers and sisters, only if we remain anchored, with all our essence, to the Divine Word will the devil not steal this priceless treasure from us. However, if we do not take care of the word, then it will be for him prey.
The stone
Another part of the seed fell on the stone and just sprouted and withered for lack of moisture.
There is a bit of soil here, but not enough to retain the moisture, that is, the knowledge of Christ. In fact, he explains that these seeds represent all men who, when they listen, welcome the word with joy, but have no root; they believe for a certain time, but in the hour of temptation they are less their own.
Beloved, when there is not much effort or desire, and at the first and smallest difficulty, one falls and dies spiritually as it happened for the people of Israel when they just left Egypt and in fact, in the book of Exodus one reads:
"The people, seeing that Moses was late in coming down from the mountain, crowded around Aaron and told him: «Make us a god who walks at our head, because to that Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what happened». Aaron answered them: «Remove the gold pendants that your wives and daughters have in their ears and bring them to me». And all the people took away the pendants which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
He received them from their hands and melted them into a form and obtained a calf of molten metal. Then they said: «Here is your God, or Israel, who has made you leave from the country of Egypt!». Seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed: «Tomorrow will be a feast in honor of the Lord». The next day they got up early, offered holocausts and presented sacrifices of communion. The people sat down to eat and drink, then stood up to give themselves to fun" (Ex 32: 1-6).
The thorns
The third part of the seed fell between the thorns, which grew with it, choking it.
The words of Saint Basil the Great echo powerful and wonderful: "A sober man rejects all things that are vain and pursues no worldly glory; he suppresses the fury of wrath and detests envy, endures suffering rather than loosening the bond of love, does not hastily criticize his neighbor, nor willingly hear the slanderers. He always wishes to avoid vices and exhorts himself to cultivate the virtue of the soul".
My dear people, this seed that falls into the midst of thorns represents all those who, after listening, along the way let themselves be overwhelmed by the worries, by the wealth and by the pleasures of life and do not reach maturity. Just like Judas, the traitor. In this regard, Saint John Chrysostom, in his homily, affirms:
"The Lord says this parable to prepare the disciples and admonish them not to be discouraged even if most of those who accept the word are lost. And in fact this also happened to the Lord; he who certainly knew in advance that this would happen, did not refrain from sowing".
Beloved brothers and sisters , in our life we have a thousand different ways to turn our backs on Our Lord Jesus Christ and these thorns must make us remember, another parable that He himself tells his disciples: that concerning the weeds. The weeds grow together with our Christian life and even if this life has a normal appearance, in reality the thorns take away from it every vital force, and every authentic closeness to Christ. Use all your strength to never tire of being attached to his Merciful Love because: the seed that falls, dies and bears fruit is not only a prefiguration of the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection but also of our fragile human condition.
The good earth
The last part of the seed fell on the good earth, sprouted and yielded a hundred times as much.
This seed represents all those who, after having listened to the word with a good and perfect heart, guard it and bear fruit with their perseverance.
The Lord, once again, amazes us with another exciting beatitude: Blessed are you who, with love, dedication and immense suffering, have taken care of the word of God and protected it from the attacks of the evil one, because the Kingdom of Heaven is yours.
My dear brothers, in order to be (render) good and fertile soil, there is need of constancy in keeping it free from weeds. Yet, good but neglected soil returns in a few years to its original state. The same thing happens for us. If we do not treat with perseverance the seeds planted in us by God, we will return to the state of man we once were. Weeds can grow back at any time and the longer you wait to weed out, the more effort we have to make. We are all aware that weeding with your hands is a very hard work, and yet it is a necessary work, if we want even START to be good soil! (The Lenten seasons of the Church)
Only by striving to be persevering will the Lord save us. He himself tells us, reminding us that those who persevere to the end will be saved. We’re just getting started. If we consider ourselves to be good terrain, let us concentrate on working patiently on ourselves, help each other and pray for each other.
Anyway, when we preach it happens that sometimes we realize that our preaching is in vain when, for example, we see that many of our brothers hear but do not hear and this puts us in a perspective where we ourselves are wrong and we ask ourselves: "What did I do wrong?" "Do I have to improve on this point or that?". And involuntarily we enter a loop from which we are not able to get out. This also happens in prayer.
Prayer is not an order or a command, as many people who call themselves "Christian" believe. It is much less a will "all and now". But it is an act of total entrustment as did that woman in the crowd who said with a loud voice: "Blessed is the woman who fathered and nursed you! But Jesus answered: Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice" (Lk 11: 27-28)
Let us consider the episode of the wedding of Apostle Simon at Cana in Galilee where: "The wine has run dry, the mother of Jesus said to him: «They have no more wine». And Jesus answered: «What have I to do with you, my Lady? My hour has not yet come». The mother says to the servants: «Do what she will tell you».
Let us give the Lord time to work in us and to improve ourselves just as clay is transformed by the hands of the potter. Never be discouraged and never lose hope: we can all change and reap, at the appointed time, the fruits of the Divine Spirit.
Beloved brethren, imprint in your hearts this: the parable of the sower and the seed has been given not only to encourage listeners with an honest and good heart to fulfill the word of God with more zeal or with greater perfection in virtue, but also so that the profligate, the negligent, and those who are slaves of passions can be urged to give attention, to listen carefully to the word of God and to put their salvation into operation with fear.
2. Hosea in the present context
My dear people, today the Church of God celebrates Saint Hosea the prophet.
He, the first of the so-called "Minor Prophets", belonged to the tribe of Issachar. He lived in the 8th century BC; he was therefore a contemporary of the Holy Prophet Amos.
At a time when many Israelites had returned to worship idols, forgetting the true God, Hosea attempted to return them to the faith of their fathers. He was very critical of the Kingdom of the North, from which he came, and prophesied the coming of misfortunes at the hands of foreigners.
Hosea’s prophecies of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ concern, in particular, His return from Egypt (Hos. 11:1 cf. Mt. 2:15), His Resurrection on the third day (Hos. 6:2 cf. 1 Cor. 15:4) and His victory over death (Hos. 13:14 cf. 1 Cor. 15:54-55).
The Book of Hosea is divided into 14 chapters, the first 3 of which tell the tormented personal story of the Prophet. On God’s orders, Hosea married a dissolute woman named Gomer (probably a sacred harlot, linked to the Canaanite cult of Baal or a simple prostitute), from whom he had three children by significant names: the first son is called Yizreel, as the valley in which was the summer residence of the kings of Israel, and whose name means "God sows".
God sows. Look how the words of the Old Testament found their total realization in Jesus Christ. This of course is a stumbling for those who remain anchored in the Old Law rejecting,
consequently, the Truth with freedom from laws that earthbound the mind of man in bondage - forgetting that God calls us out of the prisonhouse!
The second daughter of the prophet Hosea is called Lo-Ruhamah, or "Not pitied"; the last son is called Lo-ammi, or "Not my people". The last two names, in particular, are prophetic because they reflect the discontent of God: the people of Israel are "not pitied" for having abandoned His worship, preferring idols; for this, through the name of the third-born of Hosea, God defines Israel "Not my people".
In the Book of the Holy Prophet Hosea, it is possible to note a parallelism between his difficult relationship of love for his unfaithful wife and the relationship between God and the unfaithful Israel. Starting from the Book of Hosea, the relationship between God and Israel is no longer represented as that between king and subject, but begins to be represented as a relationship of love and communion between two spouses.
The same symbolism adopted by the Prophet Hosea can be found in the New Testament and in the hymn, in which the Lord Jesus Christ is depicted as the Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride of Christ. The Prophet Hosea died in old age, after fulfilling God’s will for sixty years. Why is the work of the prophet Hosea important today?
We live in an era where the world has completely reversed: everything is allowed, the various heresies (denominations) are made to appear as theological truths, the priests instead of worshiping Christ spend time prostrating in front of satanic deities, where love for neighbor no longer exists because it has been replaced by self love.
We keep saying, "I did this!" "I have to do that" but in everything we do there is no more love. Not to mention the values that have now been classified: "virtue in danger of extinction". Despite this cursed plague of the Coronavirus, we have not been able to look beyond our noses so to speak/write: let us look for example at the war in Ukraine where thousands of innocent people were killed just on the whim of a deluded poor man.
Hosea’s words are relevant because they exhort us to make amends for our mistakes and to return to the right path that one day was lost.
The prophet Isaiah, like Hosea, invites us: "Wash yourselves, purify yourselves, turn away from my eyes the evil of your actions. Cease doing evil, learn to do good, seek justice, help the oppressed, do justice to the orphan, defend the cause of the widow" (Is 1: 16-17).
Do not be afraid of the various trials you will encounter on your way. You are not alone. Never! The Lord is with you every day, entrust yourselves to Him continually with a pure heart and you will be able to destroy every wall (obstacle) just as Josuah did with the walls of Jericho (Jos 6:1-21).
I conclude with a quote from Saint Justin Popovic,(1894-1979AD) a Serbian Archimandrite and Theologian which contains, in my opinion, far exceeds the meaning of my homily:
"
The love that the God-Man Christ has for men knows neither limit nor end. In fact, we are not asked - so that we men can acquire eternal life, what is in Him, and live it - neither culture, nor glory, nor wealth, nor anything that one of us might not have; instead, we are asked only what each of us can have: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why he, the only Friend of men, announced to mankind the wonderful good news: "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him does not die but has eternal life.
In all mankind only Christ, because the only true God who gives to man what no angel or man can give, only he had the power and authority to declare: "Truly, truly, I say to you: whoever believes in me has eternal life" (Jn 6,47) and "He passed from death to life" (Jn 5:24) even in this earthly life".
May the Holy Spirit guide you and give you the strength to continue sowing even during the most stormy moments of life, always remaining in the arms of God and under the protection of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God who received the Word of God via Archangel St. Gabriel, and nurtured him (Jesus) in her womb with great joy!
Michele Alberto Del Duca, Archdeacon.
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