Scattered Seeds

The readings during Ordinary time are vibrant and enticing. They are ripe with both wisdom and challenge. Today’s Gospel is about the sower and the seed. It is no exception.

A sower sows the seed. Some fall on the path, some on a rock, some among thorns, and some on fertile soil. When Jesus explains the passage to the Apostles, he says the seed is the Word of God, and some who receive it are like the seed on the path that gets eaten up by birds. The Word never takes root in them. Some of the seed falls on the rocks, but there are no roots, and their faith fades quickly. Those who hear the Word of God and are like the seed that fell among thorns are the ones who are busy about so many things the Word never takes root. And some grain falls on good soil and produces 100-fold. This is the people who hear the Word and embrace its meaning and become what God has called them to be.

Growing up on a farm, I feel like Paul Harvey saying, “ Now, this is the rest of the story.” 

Just falling on good ground and being good seed does not guarantee a harvest of 100-fold. Some elements affect the growth of the seed. Sun, rain, fertilizer, and tending are all required for a seed to grow and produce bountifully. 

The seed of God’s Word is sown in us, we are the rich soil. The good seed of our faith needs to be cared for if we are to grow to maturity and holiness. Just like the seed planted in the field requires the nourishment of the sun, water, and fertilizer, the seed of faith planted in our hearts needs to be tended. To grow to be strong and healthy, our seed of faith needs support. Prayer, sacraments, and the shared community of believers give our faith strength and support it when weary. The seeds in the field need a relationship with the farmer. He watches them grow and lovingly weeds and hoes around them when necessary. The seed of our faith needs a relationship with our God, who planted it in our hearts. We need to be attentive to God and how he nurtures us and tends us with love. 

There is one more step and a further dimension to this parable. The 100-fold we produce provides for the seeds for the next harvest.

After we have heard the Word of God and accepted it, we need to become the sower and go out and share it. We scatter the seeds of His Word to the people we meet and in the decisions we make. Sometimes it is ignored by others. Sometimes they are excited to hear the Word in the beginning. Yet, they burn out fast. Sometimes, they are too busy to listen, and sometimes the seeds of faith that we share fall on the fertile soil of someone’s heart, and it produces 100-fold.

This teaching of the parable is the hardest because we all tend to measure our worth and value by how successful we are. We believe ourselves failing, if the seeds of faith we scatter, do not yield a harvest in people’s hearts. What this parable is telling us is that we must stop measuring our success. The measuring is up to God. How the people who receive the seeds of faith we sow respond, is not our issue. God will never measure us against the number of grains of faith we spread that come to harvest. He will measure only our fidelity.

Our job is to scatter the seeds of faith we have received and not be discouraged. We don’t control where the seed lands. We share the seeds of faith freely, indiscriminately, and without expectation. We live faith and witness to faith because that is what we are called to every day.

We must scatter those seeds grown from the seed of love planted in our heart and tended by God, the farmer. That’s all, sow the seeds of faith and let God take care of the rest.

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen Coté, Pastoral Associate