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September 19, Saturday Lk 8.4-15 “Listen to the meaning of the parable of the sower” The parable of the Sower is a simple description of the process of ploughing in Palestine, of the kind of ground upon which seed is sown, and of the variable results. This simple and commonplace exercise becomes a metaphor – for this is what a ‘parable’ means — of one of Jesus’s great teachings. The “reign of God” – or the proclamation of the reign – is certainly the central theme of the parable. The reign will arrive in spite of obstacles. This is as certain as the growth of the harvest, which reaches maturity and fullness, in spite of seemingly insuperable difficulties. What are these insuperable difficulties ? This is the first level of meaning of the parable. It refers to the refusal of the Jewish people in its leaders — the priests, the scribes and the Pharisees — to accept the message of Jesus and to trust him as a person. No matter how potent the signs of healing Jesus worked, the Jews dismissed them as works of the devil with whom Jesus was supposed to be in league. In other words, the Jews were not open. Since the word he proclaimed has fallen on “rocky ground”, “among thistles”, “on the footpath” or “been lifted by birds”, Jesus will no longer speak plainly to the Jews, but henceforth only by way of metaphor and parable. This is “so that you will hear and hear, but never understand; look and look, but never see.” The refusal to believe brings about after a time a complete absence of faith. There is a second level of meaning too, and this is the interpretation of the parable in the early Christian community. The disciples have received the word of God, but they have not nurtured it because of their own carelessness. The soil represents various types of members of the Church, those who have heard the Gospel and accepted it with faith. But this faith is not always persevering. Those who nurture the message in faith however yield a harvest of abundance. |