Friday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, July 28, 2023

Matthew 13, 18-23

Jesus said to his disciples: “Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

If we read in a certain way the Lord’s parable of the Sower (in Matthew 13, 3-8) and his explanation of it, which forms the Gospel Reading for today’s Mass, we might conclude that a person is certainly predestined to be a believer or not.  We might see the seed sown on the path — the person who “hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it” — as doomed from the start, as the devil “steals away what was sown in his heart”.  What chance has an ordinary mortal against the devil?  In fact, this person exercised his free will through his life for committing wicked deeds long before he heard the Gospel.  He already had given himself to the devil.  All the devil does is exercise the authority this human has allowed him to have.  We might then wonder about this person’s culpability, for how could he know that he was committing sin before he heard the word of God?  While some actions, such as lust, were revealed as sinful only when the Lord came, the human heart knows that some actions, such as adultery, are wicked even without hearing the Gospel.  The person who commits these wicked actions makes himself wicked and less and less capable of believing in God and following his law.  This is all the result of repeated choices made with free-will.

Similarly, the one who hears the word of God “and receives it at once with joy” but who falls away “when some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word”.  Jesus describes such a one as “rocky ground” upon which his words fall.  It is “rocky” through its own choice.  This person has not learned to curb his impulsivity nor learned any form of self-discipline.  Rather than choosing to fight for what he professes to believe in, he chooses to flee in hopes of adversity fading away over time.  We can understand this in terms of resisting temptation as well.  This individual finds comfort in the words of Jesus and is attracted to his Person, but when tempted to break his laws and commit a wicked act he puts up only a token fight  and surrenders— “he immediately falls away” — so as to escape the stress of the battle.  

The seed is “among thorns” when a person who has devoted himself to his career, gaining riches, fame, or some other temporal good hears the word.  This person may not necessarily live a life steeped in sin but he has chosen a life utterly divorced from the spiritual.  He has adopted the material world as his home.  Still, the word of the Lord charms him and draws him near.  But it remains theory, and he does not put it into practice. He is presented with a choice: God or mammon, and he chooses the latter.  

The person signified by “rich soil” is not predestined for heaven but throughout his life has rejected evil and has sought the good.  He has grown in the natural virtues and has learned self-discipline.  He looks beyond the things of this world for something greater and longer lasting.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives him everything he wants and he devotes himself to knowing the Lord and obeying his commandments.  Anyone at all could be this “rich soil”.  It does not depend on genetics, for if it did, St. Augustine would have become a pagan brute like his father.  It does not depend on upbringing.  If it did, St. Germaine Cousins would have become a cruel woman like her step mother.  It is the choice of the individual and his or her cooperation with the grace of God that causes a person to become a devout Christian and a saint.  Almighty God provides plenty of time and opportunities for each person to choose.