Sexagesima Sunday
The sower went out to sow his seed. And so He does, every day of human history. The seed is the Word of God which reaches us in any number of ways, but principally through Holy Scripture and the sacred liturgy. Our Blessed Lord’s explanation of the parable puts us on our guard against failing to perceive and receive this Word as it is sown. For the Son of Man does not sow His seed by chance, nor does He sow without a very precise motivation. The Word is sown so that it will be received and take root in our souls, and then bear much fruit, fruit that will remain unto life everlasting. This is why the various ways in which the seed can be wasted are so instructive. Let’s have a look at what Our Lord teaches us.
Some seed falls in the rocks along the wayside. This happens when someone hears the Word and is moved by it. The Word of God brings joy, but the joy remains superficial. The fickleness and worldliness of such persons does not allow it to penetrate deep into their minds and hearts, because they are afraid of its demands. They think that the little tinkling they feel makes them a good person, much like those who hear of the work done by missionaries to alleviate the poor in a war-torn country. They approve and applaud, but it goes no further than that. They themselves will never lift a finger to do something similar, even for their next-door neighbour. Since the Word remains on the surface, it cannot put down roots, and so, when the usual temptations come, they give in, and in short order, they have completely forgotten the Word. So many graces are lost in this way by people who have no depth and fail to understand what life is really about. Sadly, from one refusal to the next, they may end up refusing God for good.
Some seed falls among thorns. This happens when someone receives the Word and does take it to heart. They often convert and set out on the path of a new life in the Lord. But the attractions of the flesh, riches and the pride of life still hold sway over them. They resist for a time but gradually fall back into their old ways. They are literally choked. They had begun to breathe freely the beneficent air of virtue and holiness, but they don’t resist that little pleasure, that gratifying thought, that greediness which steals from their heart their love for God and the practice of virtue. The tragedy of such people is that they actually do come to taste how sweet is life with the Lord, but they fail to control their lower powers and are gradually overcome by the old vices.
C. S. Lewis conveys the drama of such a person who has little by little stifled his conscience and finds himself on the brink of death and damnation: “Often the man knows with perfect clarity that some still possible action of his own will could yet save him. But he cannot make this knowledge real to himself. Some tiny habitual sensuality, some resentment too trivial to waste on a blue-bottle, the indulgence of some fatal lethargy, seems to him at that moment more important than the choice between total joy and total destruction. With eyes wide open, seeing that the endless terror is just about to begin and yet (for the moment) unable to feel terrified, he watches passively, not moving a finger for his own rescue, while the last links with joy and reason are severed, and drowsily sees the trap close upon his soul. So full of sleep are they at the time when they leave the right way” (C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength).
Other seed falls on good ground, ground that has been well prepared. It has been dug up, the weeds have been pulled out, it has been tilled, and manure has been put in. The seed finds a welcome area in which to germinate and then blossom. These are people who prepare their minds and hearts, by detaching from all that is created, striving to avoid all sin and live for God alone. They have come to understand what is really at stake in life, and they are happy to be the grain of wheat that dies so that others may live.
Today’s epistle gives us a picturesque example of how the good seed bears fruit in a man receptive to Divine Grace. St Paul enumerates the many ways in which he has had to be transformed by grace. We are mindful of the fact that he first persecuted the Church, and even sought to kill those who had embraced Christ. But after his conversion, we see in Paul only the loving, persevering, even dogged attachment to following and imitating Christ in everything. This he resumes in some of his more well-known expressions: For me, life is Christ, and everything else is loss (Ph 1:21). I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20).
What happened to Paul can happen to any of us, if we will but open ourselves to the grace that is offered. How shall we know that we truly love Christ? When we are able to accept the unpleasant things that happen to us. Today’s epistle begins with St Paul telling the Corinthians to gladly suffer from the foolish, to suffer if anyone brings you into bondage – meaning seeks to exploit you in any way – if anyone devours you and takes what is yours, if anyone looks down on you or even strikes you in the face, physically or figuratively, for there are numerous ways of being insulted. If we have truly come to love Christ, then such occurrences find us not in an attitude of revolt, but rather in one of gratitude for being treated like Christ the Beloved.
This is not something you learn in books; it can only be learned in loving contemplation of the life of Christ, by welcoming the seed He sows and allowing it to dig up the hard soil of our hearts, taking away our hearts of stone, and giving us a heart of flesh. All this is impossible if we count on our own strength; it becomes possible with divine grace. So let’s open our eyes and our ears to what the Lord is showing us. Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts (Ps 94).
