Jesus Has Initiated Sowing the Seeds of the Word for Abundant Harvest, Sustained by the Daily Living Bread of Life and the Rain of the Holy Spirit – 15h Sunday in Ordinary Time, A

Even though a seed is on the good soil, it needs water to grow. Even the Word is received in eager and humble heart, the heart needs the Holy Spirit to "water" the seed on the fertile soil and the Eucharist to sustain our the heart's fertility. 

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God the Father sent His only begotten son out of His love to us (John 3:16) as our Savior (1 John 4:14). And he came to us as the Word incarnate to dwell among us (John 1:14), as Immanuel (God with us) (Matthew 1:23) in the human flesh of Jesus through Mary, the Immaculate Conception. In order to save us, Jesus has provides us with both the Word (John 5:24), which is the Spirit of Life (John 6:63), and the Living Bread of Life (John 6:51), which is the Sacrament of the Eucharist (Luke 33:29; 1 Corinthians 11:24), reflecting that we need both bread and every word out of the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4).

Because the Word is so important for our salvation, in his Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23), which is the Gospel Reading for the 15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time on Cycle A, Jesus himself has indicated that the Father has sent him to sow the seeds of the Word on our hearts, to be precise. And it is up to us whether the seeds of the Word will grow or die. In other words, our salvation may be hinged upon how we receive the Word.

First, are we eager to receive the Word every day, along with the daily Living Bread of Life? In fact, both the Word and the Bread are Jesus himself (John 1:1; John 6: 35, 41, 48, 51). And, Jesus, the Son of God is God, consubstantial with the Father (John 10:30). Thus, Jesus is indeed, the greatest grace (gift) to us as he is what Karl Rahner, German Jesuit theologian, describes as God’s self-communication. Therefore, our desire to receive Jesus daily is a key for our salvation, as our response to God’s self-communication to us.

As Jesus has explained in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 12:1-23), simply receiving the Word does not suffice salvation. Some people receive the Word but waste it like a seed on the road, easily eaten by bird, or like a seed on a rocky ground, letting sprout but wither soon, or like a seed among thorns, sprout but choked its growth.  The heart like a road to let the Word be taken away by Satan is the heart that has no interest in receiving it. It is like a person, who may physically sit in the pew but his or her heart is not participating in the Liturgy of the Word at Mass. The heart like the rocky ground represents a person, who may quickly show his or her interest in the Word but loses interest quickly as well, for not following up on its meaning. It is like a person, who may come to a Bible study session with eagerness for a while but stopped coming for pursuing another interest. The heart like the thorny ground, where the seeds of the Word are choked to death represents anxious heart, in which excessive anxiety will occlude growth the Word.

Actually, even the fertile soil itself is not sufficient for a seed to sprout and grow into abundant harvest. Imagine if a seed you placed on a good soil will sprout and grow if you never water afterward. It may sprout but will not grow. Even sown on the perfect soil, a seed cannot be neglected. It needs our constant attention and care.

As reflected in the First Reading (Isaiah 55:10-11), God the Father, who has sent us His only begotten Son as the seeds of the Word, as well as the Living Bread of Life, makes sure that the seeds of the Word will grow in the heart with right condition.  Given the juxtaposition of Isaiah 55:10-11 to Joel 2:23-24, as well as Deuteronomy 11:14-15, God the Father wants the seeds of the Word will grow in our hearts, as long as we receive with our eagerness and sustaining responsibility to let the seeds grow into abundant fruition. So, as rain water will ensure the seeds on the fertile ground to grow into abundant harvest, the Father in heaven has been sending the Holy Spirit like rain so that the seeds of the Word will grow in our hearts of humility to bear manifold fruits. The Holy Spirit comes to us not just on Pentecost Sunday but every day, as seeds need to be watered every day.

The Second Reading (Romans 8:18-23) reminds us that the fruits grown out of the seeds of the Word in our hearts of humility are what this world much needed to be born into a new life – a new life in Christ (Romans 5), as well as a new life in the Spirit (Romans 8, Ephesians 5).  Otherwise, the world would die from corruption. You see the world has been made futile with corruption due to our sin yet fighting the pending death with the groaning of in long labor pain to give a new birth to be saved. If this new birth did not happen, then, the word would die due to its futility and corruption. In fact, it is the groaning of our conscience fighting corruption – fighting against vices with virtues, as reflected in Galatians 5:16-26, by living a life by the Holy Spirit and bearing manifold fruit of the Holy Spirit.

So, the seeds of the Word sown by Jesus in our hearts must receive the Holy Spirit every day, just as any seeds on fertile ground need to receive water to grow into abundant harvest.

Every Word that comes out of the mouth of God must be fulfilled by our response with graciousness and humility, as well as our eagerness to care.

So, we do not just hear and forget about the Word but listen with care, receiving also the Holy Spirit and the Body of Christ as our daily Bread. That is why the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is available to those who seek everyday – even on Holy Saturday after its Sunday for Paschal Vigil Mass. And, the rain of the Holy Spirit is sent to us every day to make sure that the Word sown in our fertile hearts will grow into abundant fruition to fight corruption of the world and to renew the world with new birth of life in Spirit and in Christ.

Remember, Jesus died on the Cross as the seed to bring abundant harvest (John 12:24), as he himself is the Word incarnate (John 1:1, 14). It means that Jesus’ death on the Cross has sown the Word on our renewed hearts upon Lent. And, throughout Paschaltide, we prepared the Word in our renewed and clean and joyful hearts to sprout and grow. Since Pentecost on, the seeds of the Word have sprouted and been growing and growing, as we are now well into Ordinary Time in Liturgical Calendar, enjoying the benefits of daily rain water of the Holy Spirit. We shall enjoy abundant harvest during the week of Christ the King to conclude this liturgical year, as we take a good care of the Word growing in our hearts, sustained by daily Living Bread and the Holy Spirit.

Let us receive daily rain of the Holy Spirit for the Word to keep growing in our hearts to multiply into abundant fruition and harvest. And Jesus himself has been given to us as our daily Living Bread of Life to ensure that our hearts will not lose fertility to sustain the growth of the Word. After all, this growth and fruition of the seeds of the Word is what we replicate on our evangelizing mission, as Jesus initiated sowing the seeds of God on our hearts.