Be sowers not reapers

XV Sunday "a" Matthew 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 the morning, at about 5:30 I usual go out for a walk. I go to the Alameda and do a lap or two and then return to the house. In the mornings, after a rain, everything is different. The streets are cleaner, the air is fresher, it seems like the birds are singing louder. Everything is cleaner and prettier. As today's first reading says, God sends rains to the earth, on the good and the bad. He sends rain to everyone without exception Living here in Torreón we know very well the blessing of rain. Isaiah says that like water, so is the word of God. The gospel says as the seed so is the word of God. It is a comparison of the blessing of the Word with the blessing of water. The blessing of the seed and the Word of God. I'm using the short form of the gospel today because I want to invite you to reflect on God's blessing of water and the seed. I do not want us to reflect today on what kind of soil we are; as we receive the word of God. I want us to reflect on the sower. Another day we can reflect on our reaction to receiving God's word. To me it seems that the sower is wasteful. He is sowing the seed everywhere. Not only in the good soil where it is obvious that it will sprout, but on the path, among the grass, among stones. What a waste! There is no point in sowing seed in places where there is no hope that it will bear fruit. If I were a sower I would be more careful. Not only not sowing on the road, but also not near the road. Where there is a lot of traffic, where there is less chance that the seed was going to bear fruit. And of course in rocky soil or among thorns... never! But that's not how our sower is. No, he sows with surprising confidence. He is not cheap with the seed, on the contrary, he is generous and generous to an excess. The seed falls and falls everywhere even in the places where it seems that it won´t grow: among thorns, on the road, in rocky soil. What could the sower be thinking? But that's our God. As the rain falls everywhere, so is the seed, so is the word of God. Jesus sows his word among the simple who welcome him with joy, among the scribes and Pharisees who reject him, among the very holy people who go to Mass every 8 days and those who never go or only for a baptism or a wedding. Jesus is not stingy with the Word, everyone has the opportunity to receive it. Jesus sows not with prudence but with hope. To sow is to evangelize, and to evangelize is not to propagate a doctrine. It is not to be assured that the faith will grow. No, evangelizing is about being in the midst of society and in the heart of all. The very holy and the ones that don't seem so holy. Between the people who are eager to receive and those who seem indifferent or hostile to God's Word. I think the big problem is that we focus too much on the result. We decide beforehand which land is going to bear fruit. But we have to remember that the parable is not of the harvester, but of the sower. So we follow Jesus' example. We continue to sow with confidence because who knows where the seed is going to bear fruit: one hundred, sixty or thirty percent. Whoever has ears, listen!