The Transformative Power of the Word

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Is 55, 10-11; Rom 8, 18-23; Mt 13, 1-33

Learning from Kids

"Kids are always ready to learn. They are always ready to receive. Unfortunately, as we grow older, we tend to lose this ability. Or so it seems at least!" These words which a good friend of mine told me recently set me thinking.

A fresh look at the parable of the sower

We are all familiar with today's Gospel of the sower and therefore I will not rehearse it here. Whenever we hear this parable, we tend to fall into the temptation of trying to see which category best describes us. I do not think that this was the main aim of Jesus' recounting the parable. Putting labels on ourselves - or on others, for all that matters - may not be very helpful because it can sometimes rob us of our freedom. "I am created in this way," we tend to say, "I cannot change my way of being."

The Word is sown abundantly

Instead, I would like to focus on the bigger picture. There are some very powerful and encouraging words and images in today's three readings. For example, I find the image of the sower himself or herself very telling. At first blush, the sower might strike us as wasteful, careless, imprudent. Why does he or she scatter precious seed here and there hoping that some would land on fertile ground? Shouldn't the sower carefully sow the seeds where they are more likely to germinate? I think that it is not that the sower is wasteful, careless or imprudent. I think that the aim of the image is to remind us how abundant the seed is. Nobody is excluded from receiving the seed, which is the word of God. God does not pick and choose who is worthy of receiving his word and who is not. The word is not for a group of elites whose life is already in order. The seed, the word of God is for everyone to receive. Yes, even for those of us whose life is messy and riddled with hardships of all kinds. Therefore rather than making us judgemental of ourselves or of others, today;s gospel must make us more appreciative and grateful for the different ways in which God's word reaches everybody, without excluding anyone.

The dynamic force of the Word

This is the power of the Word. This is the power that we read about in the first reading, which I find so consoling. Just as water, in the rain and snow, falls onto the ground and does not reach the skies again before completing the work it had to so, so the word of God does not return to God before carrying out God's will in our hearts. What encouraging words! We spend so much energy wondering whether the Word of God is indeed effective within us or not. We spend so much time wondering what to do with the Word of God as though it depended only on us. Well, here is the good news: the fruit of the Word of God does not depend so much on our efforts. The word is powerful in and of itself. In the letter to the Hebrews we read, "The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul and spirit, between the joint and the marrow" (Heb 4,12). The Word, like water, is powerful, if gives life, just as water is so powerful that it can split entire slabs of marble; it gives life. Without it we die. It is not a trap or a cage or a prison. It gives us new life. the Word is Jesus himself, as we read in the very beginning of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" John 1,1.

The irruptive force of the Word

This force, this irruptive force is beautifully described in the second reading, where Paul speaks of the new life which is just about to blossom, the mother who, at the pangs of birth longs to give light to a new being, and the new life which wants to come out. Sometimes, on my way to university, on early mornings after late nights, as I shuffle along the streets with my head down, I am struck my the unevenness of the pavement. Then I realise that it the cracked and bumps in the concrete are cause by the strong roots of the trees which are able to crack even concrete. And out of those cracks I notice smaller plants which have just started to sprout. The seed which looks so fragile, humble, insignificant contains such an irruptive force within it that nothing can contain it. We receive it. We do not know when it will germinate and take root and grow and blossom and bear fruit. But it will, in its own time and in its season. We must only trust that when the time comes, we will harvest its sweet fruit.

We are also on the giving end

We must keep in mind one last thing: not only are we on the receiving end of the word. We are also on the giving end, and many a time we feel crushed by the burden of this responsibility. We often feel discouraged: Will my good advice be taken? Am I a good enough parent? Are my efforts to set a good example on my place of work effective at all? Do not worry about these things: just scatter the seeds. Do so abundantly and with trust in the Lord. God has been so abundant with you; why are you going to be so stingy and doubtful?

Final Word

My good friend taught me a lesson worth remembering: like these little children, we must always be open to the Word, and give it the freedom to germinate without hindering it. I suggest that we look at Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, she who received the Word at the greeting of Gabriel the Archangel and who allowed it to bear fruit indeed, that she may teach us with her example to receive the Word, and tend it patiently so that it can make much fruit in us and in others.