"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."
We have the privilege in today's gospel, if we read the longer version, of hearing Jesus explain one of his own parables. It is a worthy spiritual exercise for us to imagine which type of soil we are: hard packed path, rocky ground, thicket, or rich soil. How do we receive the Word of God? Does it bear much fruit in our lives?
I think we can take it a step further, though. Having reflected upon being rich soil, we can move to a whole new area of contemplation. In college at the Air Force Academy, we called it a leadership laboratory. One of the premises of that laboratory was that to be a good leader you first had to learn to be a good follower. Most of the freshman year was learning this lesson. But you couldn't get stuck being a follower. You had to make the transition to leadership.
I don't think we can get stuck being rich soil, either. At some point, we have to start acting as sowers of the Word. Obviously, God is the sower and his Word the seed, but since we have been made members of of Christ’s body through baptism, each of us shares in the work and mission of the sower. Some reflection on what kind of sower God is can give us direction for what kind of sowers we should be.
So, what kind of sower is he? Is he methodical? Planting straight row upon row of seed in well prepared fields? Is he efficient and careful with the precious resource of seeds? Does he test the soil first, before he carefully plants each grain? Does he limit his work within a predefined boundary?
Of course not! The sower sows everywhere. With some recklessness he flings his seeds high and low to every corner and soil. God is beyond generous in the hope that a seed will take root and produce fruit. There is no one beyond his love and grace. There is no one beyond his compassion and mercy.
If we are to be good sowers of the word, we must be like the Good Sower, or the Good Shepherd, willing to go after the one lost sheep and leave the 99 behind, or fling the seed in every place to every one. We are to take our talents and use them for the kingdom, not bury them in a single hole. We need to let the Spirit use us in every area of our lives and at each moment with each person we meet to sow his love to the far or hidden corners of this world. May we learn not just to receive God’s word well, but also to share it freely!