Do you have problem with your hearing? Are you asking others to repeat themselves? Do you ask them to speak slowly and clearly? I always give this advice to my friends who are hard of hearing: “Don’t use hearing aid. You will live longer.” Surprised, they ask, “Why?” I reply, “Because when God calls you to tell you that your time is up on earth, you will not hear Him!”
In today’s Gospel (Mt 13:1-23), Jesus uses the word “hear” fourteen times. He frames the parable of the sower with the command to listen. “Whoever has ears ought to hear” (Mt 13:9). And in explaining the parable to his disciples, Jesus makes hearing his focal point. Each type of soil is “the one who hears the word.” The first three hearers of the word are poor listeners. But the last of the four soils is a good listener. He hears the word and bears abundant fruit.
Actually, the parable of the sower is a powerful presentation and an honest evaluation of Jesus’ own ministry and, in Matthew’s time, an evaluation of the mission of the early Church. Three fourths of the people had a poor or mediocre reception of the word. Only one fourth registered good results.
If this was true in Jesus’ time and in Matthew’s day, it is also true today. Despite the many centuries of proclamation of the Word of God, how come there is still so much injustice, discrimination, abortion, and racism? In Catholic countries, why is there so much stealing, killing, and lying? Because we have believed in the deceptive words of the devil, Satan, “the father of lies” (Jn 8:44), the father of fake news.
Today, we are invited to renew our faith in the word of God, to believe in its power and efficacy. In the First Reading (Is 55:10-11), Isaiah likens the word of God to the “rain and snow” that bring life to the earth, “making it fertile and fruitful” (Is 55:10). “My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it” (Is 55:11). Isaiah speaks of the power of the word of God to encourage the demoralized Jews whose lives have been devastated by their Exile.
In the Second Reading (Rom 8:18-23), like Isaiah, Saint Paul also wants to encourage the Christians in Rome in their suffering for their faith in Jesus. “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are nothing as compared with the glory to be revealed for us” (Rom 8:18). He situates their condition in the broader context: the groaning of the whole creation. Human beings and the whole created world are awaiting with hope their complete liberation.
In the Gospel, Jesus explains the parable of the sower to his disciples because he wants to encourage and affirm them. “The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you” (Mt 13:11).
Jesus is also saying this to you because you are his present disciples. You are the rich soil. Unlike the first three hearers who are hard of hearing or have selective hearing with respect to the word of God, you have listened to the word sown in creation, written in the Scriptures, and became flesh. You “who have the firstfruits of the Spirit” (Rom 8:23) will receive your reward according to your works: “a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold” (Mt 13:23).