Today is Seed Sunday. It is a special time of the year to reflect on the spiritual import of seedtime. The word of God today directs us to meditate on what happens to the seeds when they are sown. That seed can be interpreted as the word of God sown in us (the seed of faith, Jesus himself), or it can be interpreted as you and me planted in a world and time such as this.
In the 1st reading, prophet Isaiah referred to the word of God as rain and snow, whose purpose is to water the earth and make seeds grow before it returns to the atmosphere. Similarly, the Word of God has to fulfill its purpose of making God’s grace flourish in the hearts of those to whom it is spoken. If the word of God is the water on the earth, the seed is you.
That helps us to understand profoundly what St Paul talks about in the 2nd reading concerning the eagerness, the groaning of creation as of the pangs of birth, as it awaits the revelation, the birthing of God’s children – like the seeds of God’s kingdom germinating in our world.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells us the parable of the seeds scattered by the sower, which fell on different types of ground and produced different results. Birds picked up those that fell on the edge of the path; some that fell off on rocks and thorns had some time to start developing but the environment around them where so toxic that they couldn’t make it. But the ones that fell on rich souls became the best of themselves.
The word of God does not break us to destroy us, but it disposes our hearts to the power of God. There is no heart impossible for God’s word to penetrate and be saved. It depends on us to let it happen. Let the word of God keep falling on you like rain, and it can permeate the most stubborn of hearts. Never grow weary of hearing the Word of God as we await the redemption of our souls.