First reading: Is. 55:10–11

Thus says the LORD: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.

Second reading: Rom. 8:18–23

Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

Gospel: Mt. 13:1–9

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

In other words

by Fr. Xene Sanchez, SVD (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Do you know Johnny Appleseed? I have known him since I was a small kid, having read his edifying story in a comic book. To him I owe the love of planting. I’m so glad that until now, several videos, literature, and illustrated stories are made for children to perpetuate his noble deed. Sowing seeds is a passion to be instilled in our next generations. This becomes even more important where our world is threatened by global warming and where the care of mother Earth is urgent.

Facts and legends about him are intermingled, which shows how esteemed he was. As a young man in the 1800s, he spent almost all his life walking and sowing apple seeds across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana and going further west ahead of future settlers. He was known to live with the bare necessities in life. And I underline that he always carried with him a Bible. Aside from apple seeds, he was also sowing the Word of God as he encountered people on the way.

Jesus’ first parable of God’s Kingdom was that of the sower. You might sense immediately that the sower seems to have wasted three-fourths of his seed: those which fell on the path, on the rocky ground, and among the thorns. But that was how they were doing it in the time of Jesus. Unlike our modern techniques, many of the seeds gave no return. He sowed first, and only then did he plow. Jesus’ observations however, fitted exactly his experience as a preacher. At the time of his public ministry, Jesus encountered very trying moments. He was driven out of Nazareth; in Capernaum, they thought he lost his senses; the Jewish authorities wanted to kill him, and many of his followers abandoned him. The Word of God he sowed seemed to be wasted, falling to different infertile and sterile grounds. Were his teachings then in vain? (Armellini, Célébrons la Parole).

Not at all—some multiplied a hundred times, others sixty, and some thirty. There will be enough grains to be sown again and recompense the sower. What Jesus has sown in Palestine, though lots of them have fallen on deaf ears or choked, has been spreading for two thousand years already reaching the farthest corners of the Earth. In turn, Jesus sends us to preach without asking if what we are doing is in vain.

The first reading says: God’s Word is alive and dynamic. Never in vain! The hills and fields turn brown like dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the dry season. Come the first rains, you see life; everything turns green, strewn with flowers of multiple colors. That’s how beautiful your life becomes if you welcome the Word of God.