“A parable can be like a weapon in the hand of a speaker.  It can sink a thought-provoking shot into the mind and heart of the audience causing a change of outlook and attitude, confronting the listeners with a decision that needs to be made.”  (Fr Michael Mullins, Priest & Scripture Scholar)

Over the next three weeks we will be hearing the parables of chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel describing what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.  We begin with the Sower. Matthew even includes the interpretation of the parable for us. What grabs your attention in this parable?  What stands out the most for you? We’ve heard it so often and it is so familiar to us. How does its message impact?  Does it still stir you up?  What still challenges you?  Are you confronted with a decision that needs to be made?  What is that decision?

The Sower does four sowings and three are complete failures – In the First, the birds eat the seed on the path (The evil one’s activity). In the Second, the sun scorched them and they withered away, (personal shallowness, and worldly concerns).  The final failure is the choking activity of the thorns (the desire for wealth). Only the fourth sowing produces a huge harvest from the good ground. People hear the word and understand it.

Is this Success or Failure?  How would the Appraisal of the Sower go? Acceptance and Rejection!  How do you make sense, understand, why some people accept Jesus and the Gospel message and others reject it? It’s not black and white!  But these remain key questions.  Matthew is grappling with this mystery of rejection and acceptance of Jesus’ word of the kingdom.  He’s confronting the reality both during Jesus’ own public ministry and the experience of his early followers and communities.

What should we be doing to bring about a greater understanding and awareness of who Jesus is and that the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand?  

Fr Ambrose McCambridge OSB