The “good ground” in the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1–20) is all about the faithful heart that receives the Word of God with (#1) joy, (#2 ) understanding, and (#3) perseverance. This is the very soil of Catholicism—the treasure given to us by Jesus Christ to be His Church.
Jesus is the Word of Life—the Seed. Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God. He comes to offer us new life and power to grow as a child of God. Will we receive Him?
Somebody once asked a grocery store vegetables department manager for how she could get the perfect cucumber, the perfect squash, the perfect pumpkin. He told her: Here are some seeds for each. I’ll even give them to you for free—so I send you forth to now grow those perfect vegetables.
Jesus is the Perfect One who can live in the earthiness of our humanity and help us grow up right and good as human persons. He gives us Himself as seed: freely sown forth to us, but now what kind of ground will we be? A receptive one or not?
The sower freely gives the seed down, and the receiver freely receives it—but the receiver chooses what ground they have. Are they full open to the Word of Life in Jesus? Or compromised by ‘weediness’ or shallowness or the thorns of their stubborness—giving the seed less possibilities? Or are they hard-hearted and altogether worldly? Giving no hope for the seed. That is the seed fallen on the path of the worldly-only folks, having nothing to do with God or others, really.
The Word of Life comes in Jesus—down to the earth—but He does not force His Lordship upon us. Freedom is there. Jesus was making available a Gospel of Life to bring salvation to the soul and then a good change, good growth to people—but it would be those listening to the Message—who’d be open or not. In the numbers of this parable, it’s a bit disconcerting that Jesus indicates how only a quarter or 25% of people will be open to God and become of good ground. It’s sad but people would not necessarily embrace the Good News. Nor pray and obey. Nor love with the heart of God to gracefully help them to do it. Their choice.
In another Jewish perspective, these disciples were hearing this Gospel message as Israelites, and mostly as Galileans, and surely they recalled that Israel and Judah had not a good history of response to The Lord, even while God had led Abraham to this great Fertile Crescent for growing great things and having great opportunities abounding for Israel and her faith. Abraham and Melchizedek had made covenant for a One God—for a one religion land and capital city of peace. Now come into in history is their Messiah and Deliverer—Who’d be providing a way back to God. Would people make the same mistakes ahead, as before in BC times?
They knew Jesus’ lesson on nature was not really about poor field caretaking or of poor tree harvesting—yet they were metaphors for the poor growing of the heart, mind and soul to God of people. They had not branched out as one people of God to help save the nations. Nope. They had not taken spiritual care of themselves nor their nation. What went wrong: How about… Weeds of false teaching and idols and worldly attachments thorns, stones of hard-heartedness, and of beaten paths of people walking down hard and proud over their religious values and worship—these were their faults—leading to their falls.
Jesus wants the parable to be understood by His traveling disciples (as now for us) as to help them see of what happened to nearly kill the crop or hurt the seed from ever taking root. A parable of the Sower, The Seed, and of the Field. God will sow again, and He will personally be on the earth, The Incarnate Word, and He shall be the Seed offered for people to believe in Him and come to be alive.
Jesus is very earthy here in this Mark 4 message. After all, He’ll be God with us now (from this point of time 2000 years ago)—a down to earth Savior. He is The Seed. Jesus had already taught how “blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of God is theirs.” Humility, in fact, is the root of the word “humus” — the very soil that nourishes life. Christ asked His followers and of Abba Father to be humble, not proud, but to rather workable with God and to be always seeking God’s guidance. We were to be wise workers of the humus, the land, as God’s stewards. That was the original plan—Genesis 1-3. A farmer knows that timing, good preparation and using some disciplined habits are the practices of the humble worker of the land. His humility doesn’t mean a heads-down, shugged-shoulders I don’t know attitude, but God’s poor in spirit life is described as an active seeking of the Owner’s directive of this land—and that is God asking us to furrow and plow for our souls to be soft and good. For a great yield. If we can persevere in the service of the field. We have a part, then, like a farmer, in the success of the field. It will take humility, for certain. For its opposite, pride is to just a take and use attitude, and it is not oriented to be anything of a steward or a servant. Or working the field. No, the proud favor the selfish life, and Jesus’ parable points it out—with the 75% bad ground being left for the Seed. What a shame.
Pride just looks to self, and one’s own gain. That’s bad self-gardening or of being a bad neighbor—because a common good is not in the works being done. Take a look at all the bad living or government going on today in the world—they are not abiding in such basic principles as laid down by Jesus in this parable.
Saint JoseMaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, really did understand this parable and its spiritual applications. He taught that ordinary daily work, dedicated to the Glory of God, was one’s path to holiness. His famous spiritual book “Furrow” uses agricultural metaphors like tilling and plowing a furrow to guide the interior life. We have to watch out for rocky or thorny spots, or the ground down paths, sure—but also to see where Christ has led us to the abundant good ground. “I have come to give abundant life, and to the full,” says Jesus in John 10. If one is ready for that, and so disposed—then we are ready to celebrate the yield of a faithful heart.
The “good ground” in the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1–20) is all about the faithful heart that receives the Word of God. I started the homily with that statement—so let me point out three ways that have helped my soil of Catholicism and others’ soil to be good. The three ways of good ground living includes (#1) joy, (#2 ) understanding, and (#3) perseverance.
The second stage, is that if one gets understanding, then it shows that God has found inroads to you to help you grasp the meaning of Scripture and Tradition and of your vocation. “Seek the Lord while He may be found” is a bible verse that would describe your life’s aim. Are you in that understanding? Then, you’ve found Him—in the Ways God has opened up for you. Keep the good ground going for more.
The third stage of the servant disciple is that, if one will perseveres in faith— then they will get the reward for it. “He/she who endures to the end will be saved” is a Matthew 24:13 Bible verse that would then be describing you and your good ‘groundedness.’ Are you persevering? Then, good–you have remained steadfast in prayer, in the sacramental life, in moral living, and in living justly and lovingly. Psalm 1 also describes you and your humble blessedness. “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked nor stand in the way that sinners take nor sits in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD.” fr. Barry