Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Daily Gospel
exegesis. Today's reading is a really long
one. So we're going to look at 23
verses from Matthew. So it's one of those really long
Sunday readings. And as such, it's not going to
be one that we can do a complete exegesis on.
But what I'll do is I'll read out the passage and then I'll
point you towards other times in the liturgical year when we do
break down these verses into more detail.
So today's passage is from Matthew chapter 13 versus 1 to
23. And here's what this passage
says. So verses 1 to 23, Jesus left
the house and sat by the lakeside.
But such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a
boat and sat there. The people all stood on the
beach and he told them many things in parables, he said.
Imagine a sower going out to sow as he sowed.
Some seeds fell on the edge of the path and the birds came and
ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock,
where they found little soil and sprang up straight away.
Because there was no depth of earth.
But as soon as the sun came up, they were scorched, and not
having any roots, they withered away.
Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked
them. Others fell on rich soil and
produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some 60 and some
30. Listen, anyone who has ears.
Then the disciples went up to him and asked.
Why do you talk to them in parables?
Because, he replied. The mysteries of the Kingdom of
heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them.
For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than
enough, But from anyone who has not, even what he has will be
taken away. The reason I talk to them in
parables is that they look without seeing, and listen
without hearing or understanding.
So in their case, this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled.
You will listen again and listen again, but not understand.
You will see and see again, but not perceive, For the heart of
this nation has grown coarse. There is a dull of hearing, and
they have shut their eyes. For fear that they should see
with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their
heart, and be converted, and be healed by me.
But happy are your eyes, because they see your ears, because they
hear. I tell you solemnly, Many
prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, but they never
saw it. To hear what you hear, and never
heard it. You therefore are to hear the
parable of the Sower. When anyone hears the word of
the Kingdom without understanding, the Evil One
comes and carries off what was sown in his heart.
This is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path.
The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who
hears the Word and welcomes it at once with joy.
But he has no root in him. He does not last.
Let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the
word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in
thorns is the man who hears the word.
But the worries of this world and lure of riches choke the
Word, and so he produces nothing.
And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who
hears the word and understands it.
He is the one who yields a harvest and produces now 100
fold, now 60, now 30. So that's today's passage.
It is a long one, probably one that's well known to most of
you, the parable of the sower, and sometimes it's one that's
explained well and understood well, other times not so much.
And obviously in this podcast we want to try and help you.
Really understand what the text itself is saying.
Let the text speak on its own terms.
In today's passage you would have heard that it roughly
divides into three separate parts, and each of these parts
deserves its own podcast, which is exactly what we will do.
So the three parts are the first bit where he tells them the
parable of the sower, the second part where he tells the apostles
the mysteries of the Kingdom and the purpose of parables.
And then the third part is when he goes back and interprets.
The parable of the sower. So on today's podcast we're not
going to attempt to cover all of that.
But what I want to do is point you towards other times in the
podcast where we do take an indepth look at these three
sections. So firstly, if you want to hear
each of these three sections of today's parable broken down into
their respective verses, that is done on week 16 of Ordinary Time
from Wednesday through to Friday.
So Week 16 of Ordinary Time, Wednesday through to Friday.
So if you would like to, you can go back and have a look through
the podcast archives for those episodes of week 16 of Ordinary
Time and we will do a verse by verse exegesis of this passage.
If you do want to hear the full version and exegesis of that,
then the version we hear today is quite similar to Mark's
version, although there's some slight differences, they're
basically the same, so you can have a look at.
The podcast on Wednesday of week 3 in Ordinary Time, which has a
look at Mark's entire version of this parable, So Wednesday of
Week 3 in Ordinary Time. So there are a few times in the
liturgical year when we will have a really indepth look at
this parable. Though if we took Matthew's
version as we have it today, versus 1 to 23, today's episode
would probably be 40 minutes long, so it's better that we do
it in smaller chunks. But let's finish today by having
a look at some catechism passages about the parable of
the Sowa. And obviously there's a lot you
can take from it. Let's look at paragraph 546.
This is about how Jesus chooses to proclaim the Kingdom of God.
Jesus invitation to enter His Kingdom comes in the form of
parables, A characteristic feature of his teaching.
Through his parables, he invites people to the feast of the
Kingdom. But he also asks for a radical
choice. To gain the Kingdom one must
give everything. Words are not enough.
Deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors
for man. Will he be hard soil or good
earth for the word? What use has he made of the
talents he has received? Jesus and the presence of the
Kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the
parables. One must enter the Kingdom, that
is, become a disciple of Christ. In order to know the secrets of
the Kingdom of Heaven. For those who stay outside,
everything remains enigmatic. So there's a lot in there about
the nature of parables. Jesus uses parables for multiple
reasons. Firstly, he wants to hold up a
mirror to man, and this paragraph sort of talks about
that. It basically encourages man to
reflect on himself. Also, it's the deliberately.
Spoken in such a way that those who are seeking God will
understand the parable, but those who are not seeking God
will not understand the parable. That's something we don't like
to talk about, but Jesus explicitly says here in today's
passage that that's the point of the parables.
He speaks in a hidden way so that only some people will
understand. And then lastly, as this
paragraph alludes to the parables, encourage people to
take action for the Kingdom rather than just hearing the
words. Paragraph 29 we're going to look
at next, and this is about man's desire for God.
So very early in the Catechism, there's a discussion about how
man is oriented towards God, even before we have knowledge of
the Bible and things like that. And it uses a really interesting
well, it uses today's passage in a really interesting way.
So paragraph 29, this intimate and vital vital bond of man to
God can be forgotten, overlooked, or even explicitly
rejected by man. Such attitudes can have
different causes. Revolt against evil in the
world. Religious ignorance or
indifference. The cares and riches of this
world. The scandal of bad example on
the part of believers, currents of thought hostile to religion.
Finally that attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from
God out of fear and flee his call.
So really interesting paragraph and it makes reference there to
one of the things that can stop us from sensing God and having a
desire for God is the cares and riches of this world.
And obviously that comes straight out of today's parable.
I think this is one of the most fascinating parts of the
catechism, these early paragraphs on.
How man knows God and how God reaches out to man.
And if you're interested in going through the Catechism of
the Catholic Church in a systematic way and really
digging into the text of the Catechism in the same way that
we do for the Bible in this podcast, then can I recommend
you have a look at the Patreon page for our Ministry Logical
Bible study? Because that's something that is
available to Patreon supporters who pledged $20 or more per
month. You can get access to the
regular systematic catechesis. That I do with my local parish,
where we actually have a look at the Catechism paragraph by
paragraph. So if you've always wanted to
dive a bit more into the Catechism, then that option is
there for you. And there's a link to the
Patreon page in the show notes, paragraph 787.
From the beginning, Jesus associated his disciples with
his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them,
and gave them a share in his mission, joy and sufferings.
And here it references, amongst others, Matthew 13, because in
the middle of today's passage Jesus explains the mysteries of
the Kingdom to the Apostles, Last paragraph today, paragraph
1724. This is about Christian
beatitude. The Decalogue, the Sermon on the
Mount, and the Apostolic catechesis describe for us the
paths that lead to the Kingdom of heaven, sustained by the
grace of the Holy Spirit. We tread them step by step.
By everyday acts, by the working of the Word of Christ, we slowly
bear fruit in the Church to the glory of God.
So we'll leave it there for today.
Thank you for listening and as I said, you can listen to a more
in depth exegesis of the parable of the Sowa in week 16 of
ordinary time, Wednesday through to Friday.
Thanks and hopefully you'll TuneIn again tomorrow.