The parable of the Sower is the revelation of Christ himself, the word made flesh revealing God’s truth to his people.  It is a revelation also of the heart of mankind at all stages of faith and desire for the mysteries of God.  It begs the question “how much does it matter to see, to listen and to understand what God desires to reveal to us?”  Jesus is the seed that comes to us in baptism with hope to grow strong within the soul of a person and reveal himself in all his love and splendor.  The seed of baptism is the beginning of the gift of Jesus himself but it is up to us now to attend to this gift by our priorities.  Where our time, energy, and focus is spent reveals what really matters in our lives and God knows it. 

It could be that it really doesn’t matter that much to the one who does not understand the reality of God’s presence in the world and dismisses it as mythology.  We are all born ignorant and must be taught the “how to” of life, how to speak, read, walk and even how to understand our roles as a child, student, parent, and worker.  We all know that the first teachers of our children are the parents.  We love it when they begin to talk their first words and learn their ABCs.  Ignorance is replaced with knowledge, and knowledge with understanding and understanding with wisdom.  For many the sins of the parents is having failed to bring their child in the knowledge of God teaching them all about survival in the world and little about salvation from the world. 

Even the agnostic can attain wisdom since that person too is a child of God but without God it is a limited wisdom of the world.  The atheist however has heard of God and rejected God to be their own god.  Without the seed of Christ their hour of salvation is quickly coming to an end as they sink deeper into the quicksand of death.  Did they ever have anyone to teach them there is a God who loves them?  Ignorance of God is death. 

We also must be taught to know ourselves as a child of God.  Do we rejoice by teaching our children the “Our Father” in the same way as reciting the ABCs?  In baptism class, I often ask parents if they know the prayer to their guardian angel.  Not surprising few were taught the prayer as children themselves.  We cannot live a faith we have not learned how to live.  If we wait for them to grow and learn later in life the evil one will have the advantage like a bird that comes to eat up any signs of faith in God.   The evil one is the master of denial, deception, and doubt to bring confusion of faith and loss of hope in a God. 

It could be that God revealing himself to us matters only when it comes to the wonders and gifts God brings us like a mythical Santa Claus to the world but the heart quickly loses interest in the gift when it requires commitment, practice, or sacrifice. Now the road becomes rocky even facing tribulation.  We can quickly lose heart in pursuing the things of God.  The seed on rocky ground lacks maturity of discipline and perseverance.  It is excited to go to retreats, Christian concerts, and even enter into different religious movements but soon the excitement wanes never taking root in any commitment to the faith.  

We all live in a culture full of thorny ground.  Common sense understanding of life such as such as male or female is no longer accepted as a reality but a state of mind.  Christian values are under attack and the concept of go along to get along no longer works in segments of society.  The thorns of a culture of death are here to choke out any life of faith in a God.  Then there is the weakness of the flesh exposed to sin where sin is now a freedom to be honored not just with tolerance but with reverence in society. Compliance is demanded in order to be accepted in a thorny world.  It becomes easy to lose focus on living an active spiritual life by trying to “fit in”.   This is the test of our times no longer able to remain silent but expected to participate in the sins of this world.  Whose fruit will we bear and which god do we serve?  The God of heaven or the god of the world waiting to devour us.

Finally, is the one who has eyes to see the hand of God working in his creation, has ears to hear his call to do his will as an instrument of God’s love, and whose heart understands the truth of the mystery of redemption not in theory but in practice bearing fruit in all seasons.  We become “that one” the person of faith in the one true God who reveals himself within his kingdom where we are called to enter and see, experience and love, and live our God-given purpose.  We not only have to live it but it becomes our identity as a child of God.  Christianity is not something we do it is who we are. 

Some people will say “I don’t do religion I am just spiritual”.  Translation is they don’t belong to a God they are their own god as they meditate on themselves.  We respond “I don’t do religion either, I am of God”.  Religion is not something you do it is something God does and gave us to bring us to him.  A person of God comes to church so God can do his mystery of love in the sacraments and give of himself to us.  

We are call called to be that person but to be that person we must also be “shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” says Jesus to his Apostles “as sheep in the midst of wolves”.  As we often hear “ignorance is no excuse”.  We must not only walk by faith but know our faith and follow the teachings that comes through Jesus to his Apostles, his church, and his people as a community of believers.  Jesus is with us to help us navigate through what Saint John Paul II called a “culture of death”.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us otherwise it is a battle of the wolves seeking to prey on the weak that is “p-r-e-y” not “p-r-a-y”. 

Every day can turn into a day when the ground beneath us will tremble, the sun will be overshadowed and darkness can cover us.  It is then that we will discover what really matters and our readiness to walk without fear in the light of Christ.  If we desire to be and to remain as the person of faith, hope, and love in all seasons, then let us remain close to Jesus, receive his body and blood in the Eucharist, spend time with his Word making every day an offering of ourselves as we do the work before us.  Jesus comes to the humble heart that is that person of prayer who knows “I am of God”.