Homily – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

We have two options for this week’s Gospel reading.  The first is the shorter version, from verses 1 to 9 of chapter 13, in which Jesus presents the Parable of the Sower.  The second is the longer version, from verses 1 to 23 of the same chapter.  In the New Revised Standard Version, this passage consists of three sections with the subtitles: The Parable of the Sower; The Purpose of the Parables; and The Parable of the Sower Explained.  The second section demonstrates the purpose of the parables: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven… Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear” (Matthew 13:11, 16).

As we know, in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus presents a dozen parables, but he explicitly interprets only a couple of them for his disciples.  The third section of the longer version of the Gospel provides us with a clear explanation.  As a result, I will not attempt to take over his role or try to outsmart him by offering another interpretation.  You will find his explanation in verses 18 to 23 of chapter 13.

What I would like to point out in today’s Gospel, however, is the way the sower sows the seed.  When I was growing up, my family had a few small rice paddies, each about half the size of a soccer field or even smaller.  The rice harvested from these paddies provided enough food for our family to survive for the whole year, and sometimes even longer.

I remember how we prepared the seedlings for planting.  First, we soaked the seeds in lukewarm water to speed up the process of germination.  Then we prepared a small nursery bed within one of the rice paddies.  Once the roots had grown to one or two centimetres in length, we carefully scattered the germinated seeds evenly over the prepared nursery bed.  They continued to grow there for four weeks or so, until they reached a height of about 15–20 centimetres.  Once the seedlings were ready, we pulled them out and manually transplanted them in small bunches, pushing them three to four centimetres deep into the wet soil at regular intervals.  It would take one or two labourers an entire day to plant a rice paddy of the size I mentioned.

I remember one year when the weather was extremely cold, and the seeds failed to grow.  As a result, we had no seedlings to transplant into the fields.  We had to ask our neighbours whether they had any spare seedlings they could share with us.  Fortunately, one family did, and they were generous enough to give us what they did not need.

As farmers, preserving and protecting seeds for the next crop is essential.  We had to handle them carefully and avoid wasting them.  Reading today’s Gospel, however, we might have the impression that the sower in the parable does exactly the opposite.  The seed appears to be scattered everywhere without much care.  Besides the fertile soil, some seed falls on the path, some on rocky ground, and some among thorns.  Should the sower have been more careful with the seed, or is this precisely the point that Jesus wants us to notice?

In using the sowing of seed as a metaphor for proclaiming the word of God, I tend to think that Jesus is not describing the careless wasting of seed but rather the generous heart of God.  God’s word is offered to everyone, regardless of whether the soil appears fertile or barren.  His word is generously sown without discrimination.  Theologically, this is a beautiful message for us to hear.  At the same time, however, we are invited to respond to that generosity.  If God is so generous in sowing his word, should we not also reconsider and examine whether the soil of our own hearts is fertile enough for his word to take root and bear fruit a hundredfold?

By Fr Sang Ho