How important is the Word of God to us? Some of us treat the Word of God with such great importance, but we do so only for show or for decoration by putting the bible on a fancy stand and perhaps place the bible at the family altar, probably only to slowly collect dust. Some read the Word of God like a story book, but do not grasp its meaning and some do not even bother to find out more about what the passage is really trying to teach us. Some read the bible and reflect on the words reverently and prayerfully, taking time and effort to digest the meaning.
The Word of God is special nourishment for our soul. It is like soil which enables our soul to gain necessary and essential nutrients for growth so that we could bear good fruit. But for us to benefit from the Word of God, we need to examine ourselves. Today’s Gospel speaks about seeds falling on different types of environments with different soil conditions. Each environment could be linked to our condition and the condition of our soul.
The first environment (edge of the path) is like people who are not the least bit interested in the Word of God. They come late for Mass, or sometimes come only for certain major occasions like Christmas and Easter. Some may say that these sort of people have a hatch, match and detach mentality, meaning that they come to church only when they are being baptised as infants, when they get married and when they are carried or wheeled in for their funeral. On other occasions, they are like “chipsmore,” now you see them, now you don’t. These people are also sometimes impatient, just waiting to get out of the church after Mass, or perhaps looking elsewhere or doing other things or thinking of other things, just to while away the time. They seem more interested in other things and come to church just to fulfil the Sunday obligation (with great difficulty at times).
The second environment (patches of rock with little soil) is like people who have superficial or shallow faith. They select only bits and pieces of the Word of God, avoiding or ignoring those parts which are unpleasant or that which they think are not relevant to them. We call this group of people folks with selective hearing, only wanting to hear some things and become deaf with other things. When some challenge occurs or when they face some difficulty, their faith withers away.
The third environment (fell among thorns) is like people who listen and accept the Word of God, but so many other things, worries, pressures and distractions cause them to lose focus. As a result, they feel as if God has abandoned them and they fall away, when in actuality, it is they who have abandoned God. They lack trust, perseverance and patience to press on and finish the race.
Naturally, we hope and pray that we will be like the fourth environment, where we gain access to rich soil. People who are in this fourth environment thrive and flourish, producing good fruit and giving glory to God.
The question is this: which environment are we presently in? Are we stuck in a particular environment? It takes God’s Grace and providence to help us make a change and begin producing good fruit, but we must also make effort and do our part. We must come out of our comfort zone and be willing to be more trusting and dependent on God. Are we humble and willing enough to let the rich soil God is offering us through the His Word and also through the Eucharist, nourish us?