Cultivating the Heart | 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By: Dcn. Alex Charow
Seminarian
Archdiocese of Boston

I am not a gardener. In fact, I definitely have whatever the opposite of a green thumb would be called.

That said, even with my limited experience of gardening or farming, I know that the Parable of the Sower, which Jesus recounts to the crowds in today’s Gospel, is somewhat odd. What sower in their right mind would sow seed on a path, or on rocky ground, or among thorns? At first glance this seems to be a waste of valuable seed, a wasted chance for fruitful cultivation!

Wouldn’t it be better to focus solely on the good soil, where we are sure that we will see fruits that yield a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold?

Jesus Christ, the Word Made Flesh Who is both the sower and the seed to be sown, answers us in the very telling explanation of the parable. In His great love for us, Jesus refuses to limit the possibility that the Word can be fruitfully cultivated in our souls. As such, the Word is lavished upon us who are at times a hard path, rocky soil, or a thorn bush.

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah reveals why the Word of God can be sown so liberally:

“Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful… so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”

There is power in God’s Word, a power which will achieve the ends for which it was sown in the world. Those who hear the Word of God and are moved by it enough to cooperate with the grace God gives to cultivate and smooth out the hard paths, till the rocky soil, and remove the thorns of our souls ultimately become the good soil in which the Word of God can grow and bear much fruit.

This is great news, especially for men in formation for the Catholic Priesthood.

The seven years of seminary formation, with its call to life in common, Moral Theology curriculum, and program of human formation provide ample opportunity to come to grips with the hard paths, rocky soil, and thorny environment of seminarians’ souls. If a seminarian is honest with himself and his formators, he is able to recognize the places where the Word of God has not yet been allowed to take root.

This process can feel overwhelming at times, especially since it leads to questions like: Am I clinging to things that are incompatible with the love of God, preventing His Word from taking root in my life? Can the Word of God take root in the rocky ground of my soul? Is the efficacy of the Word choked out by my anxieties?” Even if a man is overwhelmed at times, he ultimately has solid ground to stand on: the promise made by God through Isaiah the Prophet.

Jesus Christ, the same Word of God Who called a man to enter the seminary in the first place, stands ready to help that man cultivate the good soil in his soul throughout the formation process. Indeed, the seminary itself functions like a continuation of the apostolic band, the twelve men called to gather around the Lord for years of formation before they were sent to the ends of the Earth to proclaim the Good News.

Whether through our daily attendance at Mass and communal celebration of the Divine Office, our private study of the Word of God in Bible studies, or our study of Theology, the Word of God is continually sown into our souls while we attend Saint John’s Seminary. As I noted above, this Word has the power to transform us if we are willing to cooperate. Our cooperation is best lived out in frequent recourse to the Sacrament of Penance and honesty in human formation and spiritual direction. Over time, this panoply of activity succeeds in removing the obstacles to bearing good fruit as Christians and future priests.

The life of one member of the Twelve illustrates this reality so well. I speak, of course, about St. Peter.

Simon would’ve heard the Parable of the Sower firsthand, and shortly thereafter Jesus would give him a new name, Cephas, or “Peter,” which literally means “rock.” Unfortunately, Peter’s actions during Jesus’ Passion show that his new name was quite fitting.

Despite receiving the Gospel with joy, Peter fell away from the Lord Jesus after His arrest. Indeed, Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was! Peter, the rock, was full of the rocky soil Jesus warned against in the parable.

But Peter didn’t give up.

After the Lord’s Resurrection, Jesus forgave Peter’s threefold denial, and Peter went on to be the Prince of the Apostles, serving as the head of the Church in Rome and writing two letters which made their way into the New Testament before giving the ultimate witness to Jesus as a martyr during the Roman persecutions under the Emperor Nero.

Knowing Jesus and hearing Jesus, knowing and hearing the Word of God, ultimately bore great fruit in Peter’s life, a hundredfold I’d say! This is true despite his denial of the Lord, and despite the rocky soil initially embedded in his soul.

So on this 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, as Jesus recounts the Parable of the Sower to us, let us thank Him for His willingness to sow the seed far and wide, heedless of the initial state of the soil into which it is thrown.

May that same Lord Jesus, Who was mistaken for a gardener by Mary Magdalene on the morning of the Resurrection, give the men of St. John’s Seminary and all those they will serve the grace to till the soil of their souls in order to bear fruit that yields a hundred, or sixty, or thirtyfold.