This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time and we have been considering Jesus’ parable of the sower who went out to sow. In the parable there are three primary images: sower, seed, and ground. While there may be some differences in emphasis or specific details, the general understanding of the three images and their interconnection can be summarized as follows:

The sower draws from the OT prophetic tradition of God sowing his seed in the chosen people in the form of the Covenant Law with the purpose of having that fruit multiply. Fulfilling that prophetic role, now the sower represents Jesus or any person who spreads the message of the Gospel, proclaiming the word of God.

As mentioned above, the seed represents the word of God, in the OT given through the Law and Prophets and now given through Jesus, the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets and the Living Word of God. For Christians this means the message of the Gospel. It refers to the teachings and truths found in Scripture and Tradition that have the potential to take root in people’s hearts and transform their lives. The seed symbolizes the divine truth and the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

The ground represents the condition of the human heart or the receptivity of the hearers to the message of the Gospel.

In the context of Matthew’s gospel, much of the chapters previous to Mt 13 have, in one way or another, dealt with the people’s reception or rejection of the mission. In this light, while all three elements—the sower, the seed, and the ground—are important to the parable’s message, the primary focus is on the varying responses of the different types of soil to the sower’s scattering of the seed.

As Christians we are responsible to sow the seeds of faith and proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven – in our place and time and circumstance. We have to “equip” ourselves with “seed,” that is the Word of God and our own relationship with Jesus. We are responsible to “check our feet” to ensure we are planted in fertile, rich soil.  And this also means to examine our own heart and consider how we are responding to the Word of God in our lives. Have allowed that Word to take deep root in our life? Are we bearing fruit? Then our example can shine before others!

Image credit: “The Sower” Vincent van Gogh (June 1888), Van Gogh Museum, Public Domain