July 21, 2021

Mt 13: 1-9

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 

Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Cultivating the seeds of faith

At times, living in a results-oriented culture can be discouraging. We tend to judge our efforts solely on the yielded results.  Don’t get me wrong, results do matter, so too does keeping them in sight.  But, when it comes to accompanying others on their faith journeys, the Parable of the Sower reminds us that sometimes the best we can do is scatter seeds and hope for the best.

We reflect on this message some 500 years after St. Ignatius’ dramatic conversion.  Much has been written about his conversion, but just think, how many attempts prior to his cannonball injury seemingly failed?  How many people walked away wondering if they’d ever get through to him? 

Life’s experiences compound, building on the last.  This is a good reminder to us in our works on behalf of the Lord.  Although we may not see results, we may be helping to cultivate a heart able to receive the seeds scattered in the future. 

—Matt Nickson is the Director of Pastoral Ministry at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, where he has worked for 16 years.  He is an alum of De Smet Jesuit High School (2001)  in St. Louis and Rockhurst University (2005) in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Prayer

Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ