Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Luke 8: 4-15
September 20, 2025 | Saturday

Today’s Gospel

As a great crowd gathered, and people came to him from every town, Jesus began teaching them with a story: “The sower went out to sow the seed. And as he sowed, some of the seed fell along the way, was trodden on, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground; and no sooner had it come up than it withered, because it had no water. Some seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with the seed and choked it. But some seed fell on good soil and grew, producing fruit, a hundred times as much!” And Jesus cried out, “Listen then, if you have ears to hear!”

The disciples asked him, “What does this story mean?” And Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to others it is given in the form of stories, or parables, so that, seeing, they may not perceive; and hearing, they may not understand.

Now, this is the point of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the wayside are people who hear it; but immediately, the devil comes and takes the word from their minds, for he doesn’t want them to believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are people who receive the word with joy; but they have no root; they believe for a while, and give way in time of trial. Among the thorns are people who hear the word, but, as they go their way, they are choked by worries, riches, and the pleasures of life; they bring no fruit to maturity. The good soil, instead, are people who receive the word, and keep it, in a gentle and generous mind, and, persevering patiently, they bear fruit.

Today’s Reflection

Whenever we hear the parable of the sower, we immediately associate the kinds of ground to different people. And rightly so, Jesus also expressed it as such. But as we grow to understand human nature, we can also look at this as the different grounds of the same person, found at different times of his life. We know we are not always the holiest of persons, nor are we always the most sinful. While we always strive to be holy, temptations become too strong at times that we become arid ground or thorny. The beauty of this is that the Lord scatters seed to all kinds of grounds. Some would say he is not even a good farmer, for farmers do not scatter seeds anywhere. But the Lord is a merciful farmer who sees hope even in the most hopeless cases. In a way, this is also the message we get from renewing our baptismal promises during the Easter Vigil. It is not about our willingness to consecrate ourselves to God. Rather, we know, and God knows, that throughout the year and our lives, we have become unfaithful to our promises at one time or more. We renew it not because we are worthy but because God gives us another chance at life.

/Vulnerasti, 2025