Jesus the true Farmer

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Mt 13:1-23

Today we are talking about seeds, soil, and fruits. A priest told me that when he asked the candidates for confirmation a question about what fruits of the Holy Spirit are, some answered that apple, mango, and Kiwi. Some even said, I do not like apples, so I will pray for the Holy Spirit to give me Bananas.

Imagine that we are farmers or gardeners and want to grow vegetables. So, what kind of soil do you want to sow seeds or grow plants? What kind of ground are you looking for? Is that dry ground, thorny soil, or rocky soil? For Me, I would choose rich soil to grow plants.

Now, we look at the farmer in the Gospel.

What kind of soil was he looking for?

Does he look for rich soil? or thorny and rocky soil?

The Gospel shows us that he chooses all kinds of soils to sow the seeds.

When reflecting on this, I thought that if he is a farmer in my hometown, we would think that He is not a good farmer. He does not know how to farm at all.

Some say that Jesus is not a businessman; he needs to improve at math too. He left 99 good sheep looking for a lost one.

From our human perspective, only good soil bears many fruits.

But theology shows that God's works always remain a mystery. His way is always unique.

God's way is always right. Abraham Lincoln once said, "My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."

God is greater than any of us, and his way is always good.

That is why he does not choose only good soil to sow seeds, his words, but he chooses all kinds of soil. That is why we are all here today.

Now we ask other questions, does he choose only Holy people to listen to his words? Does God only choose good people to give graces?

Thank God again. His way is really different from our human standard.

Sometimes I thank God because he is not like me; if he is like me, I do not know what happened with the people I live with.

Matthew shows us God is the sun who shines on the just and the unjust alike. God loves both sinners and saints.

Unlike human standards, God does not say to dry people or sinners, "I am done with you because you cannot bear fruits. He does not look at only the rich people and say, and I will give you more because you give me much. No, the good news is that God always shows favor to little ones.

Jesus as the Gardener in Luke’s Gospel saying that “leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future.”

Thank God again.

Now the second point we need to reflect on today is how do I cultivate the soil in our souls so that we may understand and live the words of God? How can the ground of our soul become good soil and bear abundant fruits?

It depends on the owner of the ground. God is the owner, the farmer who had the power to cultivate dry land to become good ground.

Only God has the power to transfer and cultivate our souls because he created them; our job is to cooperate with his grace.

Pelagian Heresy states that humans have the ability to live moral lives without the grace of God. However, St. Augustine states that human beings cannot attain righteousness by their own efforts and are totally dependent upon the grace of God.

St. John said in his Gospel, "Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit because without me you can do nothing."

What we can do is open our hearts and receive.

Open our hearts to receive his words and grace because God is always sowing in each of us.

Like a dry land cannot receive water from rain if we cover it, we cannot receive God's grace if our heart is covered with darkness, self-centerless, and self-righteousness.

We open our hearts by willingly receiving God's grace and being transformed by God's grace, and the most important thing is to receive God's will in our lives.

Every sinner is rocky and thorny soil but remember that they may bear many fruits and become a saint if they open to God's grace.

Story:

Clayton Fountain was once known as the most dangerous prisoner in the United States. Convicted in 1974 of murdering his fellow in the Marines, he was sent to a top-security prison where he killed three other inmates and a correctional officer. He had to be moved to a specially constructed solitary cell. During this time, a Trappist monk, Fr. Paul Jones, was the priest who brought this soul to Christ.

Fountain began to study theology and soon chose to begin living the life of a monk in his prison cell as a lay brother. He opens to receive God's grace to transform him in the darkest prison place. God never forgot him. Yet in a concrete and steel cell, God was at work redeeming and remaking Clayton Fountain.

Fountain’s life makes us believe that no one is beyond God's divine mercy, and no sin is beyond God's forgiveness. As Clayton Fountain himself stated, "If I can be forgiven, then no one is beyond the forgiveness of God."

God is never tired of forgiving and loving sinners regardless of who we are. And remember this, God's love is based on who God is, not who we are or what we have done. In other words, God is always sowing his seeds without exceptions and conditions.

God never gives up sinners because he has the power to transform thorny and rocky soil into rich soil so that they may bear many fruits of 30, 60, and 100.

The best way to bear many fruits is to open, receive and become what you consume at this altar.