WHAT KIND OF SOIL ARE YOU?
HOMILY FOR FIFTEENTH SUNDAY, YEAR A.
The liturgy of today invites us to the ancient spiritual practice of Lectio Divina, which invites us to receive the Word of God with open hearts and minds. In it we read and meditate on the Sacred Scripture, allowing it to penetrate the depth of our being. This practice enables us to cultivate a fertile soil for God’s Word to take deep root in us, grow in us and bear good fruits in our lives.
In the first reading the prophet Isaiah likened the word of God to the rain and snow that nourishes the earth, with a promise to accomplish its purpose without returning to God void. When we open ourselves to the Word of God, it becomes “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Ps. 119:160).
Christ in the gospel speaks of the word of God in the parable of the sower and the seed. In this parable, Christ speaks according to the agricultural customs of His days. He describes the different types of soil: the path, rocky ground, thorny ground, and rich soil. These represent the receptiveness of our hearts to God’s word. We notice the same seed that was cast by the same sower in different soil. The major problem in this parable is the soil and not the sower or the seed.
Therefore, we cannot blame the differences in results on the sower or on the seed. In other words, if the problem is not with the seed, then it lies with the receiver. That is, our attitude towards the word of God.
This parable speaks personally to each of us today. If we sincerely examine ourselves in the light of today’s gospel, we will convincingly find our place within it. Are we like the hardened path that the Word of God cannot penetrate our hearts? Or the rocky ground that lacks perseverance in times of trials? Or like the thorny soil, choked up with materialism and hindering us from bearing fruits? Or are we like the fertile soil with open mind and disposition to receive God’s Word?
The parable of the sower compels us to ask, “What kind of soil am I? How can I prepare my heart and mind to be the right kind of soil?” am I receptive to God’s word? If not, how can I cultivate a receptive heart to His word in my daily lives? God is the farmer who has sown a seed of love in all of us, good and bad alike. Our reception of this seed determines the kind of soil we are. We are invited to cultivate a fertile soil, where God’s word will penetrate and bears good fruit.
Fr. Ken Dogbo, OSJ
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