the sower sows the word

Mark 4:1-20

Today in the church we celebrate the feast of St. Timothy and St. Titus. They were bishops in the early church, companions of st. Paul. Timothy served in Ephesus and Titus on the Island of Crete.

Today would be a good day to read the three letters of St. Paul to Timothy and Titus. They are short but beautiful and insighful.


Also as we look to the gospel, We here these words, "The sower sows the word."

The Parable we encounter in today's gospel is always striking to me.In fact Jesus uses this parable as a key to understanding all the rest of the parables, "do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?"

The this basic parable of the sower is to be considered the benchmark we use to understand the other parables.

So let us look at one part of it. We will focus on the sower.

The sower in the gosepl seems to be careless. He scatters seeds all over the place. He is consistent in spreading the seed even in places where little chance is provided for it to take root:path, rocky ground, among thorns, rich soil.

Of the places mentioned only one place is ideal the rest are foolish places, nonetheless the sower sows with reckless abandon.

We enocutner places like this all the time. We encounter the person who has a rocky soul, the one who is obstinate or hard headed; or one who is thorny at best, perhaps irritable, bitter, or just plain mean; or peraphs those who have been trampled upon like the path, those hwo have been beaten down by life, by circumstances, by life not going as they expect.

Yet, we are invited to sow the word regardless of the terrain of the soul that is in front of us. We can never judge who is worth and who is not. We must follower the sower's lead. In fact, this parable is really an invitation for the disciples to understand mission in life: to sow.

How often we focus on reaping, getting, finding? Yet, this parable is about goign out and making known. We reap what we sow, but we first must be focused on sowing the word outward.

The sower sows the word.

It is time for us to get busy with throwing out the seed and let God do the rest.

Here is a quote from St. Francis de Sales, doctor of the church whose feast was this past monday. Perhaps it will bolster the parable somewhat:

"We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work."