This morning's homily

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."

Father had some interesting observation about this reading this morning.

The sower scatters the seeds - not carefully, not in a planned way as we might in our gardens - but indiscriminately. The word is there for all, scattered to the four winds, for God wants to reach all.

He further noted that when birds eat seeds, they do not digest them all. Some of those seeds are dropped elsewhere, where they grow. In other words, God's word can be spread even unintentionally - though our actions, through our examples, through unexpected means.

And he noted - using the example of the rectory driveway - that even seed that falls on hard ground can grow, finding and creating cracks in hard surfaces. God's word is so powerful it can't be stopped.

Good thoughts to consider. God gets His word out!