15th Week in Ordinary Time : Sunday 16th July 2023

The Gospel reading presents us with the Parable of the Sower, who went out to sow. Where did the seeds land? At different places. Some were “on the edge of the path” (v 4); others “on patches of rock” (v 5), “thorns” (v 7) and “rich soil” (v 8). What do the seeds represent? They represent the Word of God. What do the different soils represent? They represent how the Word of God is heard and understood. We have heard the Word of God at different times, from different people, and through different media. How the Word of God is ‘heard’ and understood determines its fruitfulness.

If we hear the Word of God “without understanding”, then it can be hijacked by the evil one, who “comes and carries off what was sown” (v 19). If we hear the Word of God as those who are superficial and without roots, then our trials and persecutions will overwhelm us, and we will “not last” and will fall away (v 21). If we hear the Word of God but constantly allow “the worries of this world and the lure of riches” to choke the Word of God in our lives, then we produce “nothing” (v 22). However, if we hear the Word of God and understand it, then the Word of God in our lives will produce a harvest as much as 100-fold, or at least 30-fold (v 23).

Let us reflect on the times the Word of God in our lives landed “on the edge of the path”, on “patches of rock”, among “thorns”, and in “rich soil”. What were the obstacles that impeded our understanding? What were the pathways that opened our horizon?

Lord, grant us ears that “hear” and understand Your Word and the revelation of the mysteries of the Kingdom.