Readings:
Exodus 20:1-17
Matthew 13:18-23
Reflection:
The good seed, ‘the word of God,’ is always planted in our hearts.
How we nourish this seed determines if it will produce the crop that completes its life cycle.
In a more expansive presentation of the parable to the community of Matthew, we read 3 things.
- The lack of understanding of the spiritual nature of our life and how to nourish it can lead to no yield of wheat being produced.
- Persecution and the challenges of life because of the ‘word of God within’ can destroy one’s enthusiasm and create a fear which drains nourishment from the soil, the heart, in which the seed is planted and the yield withers away.
- The lure of riches and the worries of worldly life can distract us from tending the crop so that one’s spiritual life is suffocated and never reaches maturity.
We cannot turn our back on this parable, for it speaks to a large section of the followers of the Christ and their embracing the Gospel message.
*We need continual nurturing of our faith and practice.
*We need a strong community presence to shelter us from the fears of persecution in all its forms.
*We need a sense of our own beauty as children of God, the uniqueness of our own person and celebrate our participation in the ongoing creation of the world in which we live.
Fr Peter Addicoat CP is parish priest and community leader of our St Joseph’s parish/community in Hobart, Tasmania.