In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Today we heard a parable in the Gospel, and we might ask ourselves: what is a parable? A parable is not merely a story or an illustration of a thought. It is a call, and one could even say a challenge for us to reflect deeply on what is said in it. Today’s parable is exceptionally clear in this sense. Christ presents four images that correspond to the conditions of human souls. We hear the word of God – we hear it in the Gospel, we hear it in prayer, we even hear it in our own hearts when our soul and mind speak God’s truth to us. How will we respond to it?
The images Christ gives us are indeed images, but they reach far beyond the words themselves. Some seeds fall along the path. Sometimes we hear a new word from the Gospel or simply from another person, and at that moment it strikes us as good and interesting, but we are occupied with something else. And while we postpone taking time to reflect on it, other thoughts rush in and wipe away even the memory of what was heard.
At times, the words of the Gospel or kind words from others fall among thorns – that is, we hear them in the midst of life’s cares and anxieties. We are consumed by other things, and those holy words reach us as if from afar, but they are drowned out by the noise of this life, and we fail to pause and dwell on them.
At other times, these words fall on rocky ground. This is truly terrifying; it once happened to me in a way so dreadful and chilling that I can never forget it. I walked out to read the Gospel – to speak before you, for myself and for you, the very words of Christ Himself – and nothing of what He said reached me. When I returned to the sanctuary, I thought: how can I preach a sermon on words that didn’t reach me at all, words to which I reacted as if saying to the Savior, “You speak in vain. What You say does not concern me; I am not interested!” Can you imagine the horror of this? So I went out to preach and told the truth. I admitted honestly that Christ spoke to me, and all I could answer Him was: “What You say to me is uninteresting; it does not touch my soul, it does not even reach my mind – to me, it is just empty noise.”
And I was terrified: how can I stand before the Lord in church prayer and lead this prayer when Christ’s own words, addressed to me personally, remained empty noise within me? Then I turned to the faithful (perhaps some of you remember this, or perhaps my words also fell among thorns and were forgotten) and said: “Think about this: has it ever happened to you that you were reading the Gospel or hearing good words – not only in a sermon, but from family or friends – and the only response in you was: ‘Oh, leave me alone, I don’t have time for this right now! I’m tired, I have other worries, other thoughts, or I’m simply unable to feel what you’re saying right now – go away!’?” Has such a terrible thing ever happened to any of you? Yet this is precisely what Christ describes in this parable. How terrifying it is!
And yet, sometimes the word falls on good soil; that is, it touches us, striking at the very core of our soul, and then everything changes. This happened to every one of the apostles, to every saint, and to every sinner who turned away from sin in their time and became a new person.
Let us think about this: who am I today? Am I the rocky ground that deflects every word heard? Am I the path walked on over and over again? Or has my soul become so full of cares, anxieties, and interests that Christ’s words represent only a tiny fraction of what I hear, while in reality life has so many more engaging things to offer?.. God, what a horror!
That is why a priest once told me: “Read the Gospel every day, because you will change every day. One day you will be rocky ground; another day your soul will be overgrown with thorns; on another day, roadside dust will settle on it. But one day, unexpectedly, these words will touch you and become a new life.”
Reflect upon this – this is what the parable we heard today speaks to us about. Amen.
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