Today's Gospel

Gospel Mt 13: 18-23

Jesus said to his disciples:“Hear the parable of the sower.The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it,and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time.When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it,who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirty fold.”

This explanation of the parable of the sower was probably not part of the original parable, but rather a reflection by the early Church on Jesus' words.
The privilege of being a disciple is to be able to understand, through faith, what the message of God is: firstly, Jesus himself, the Incarnate Logos, and then, his teachings. The application of the seed that fell on the path, on rocky soil, and among thorns, would mirror the early Church's experience with some converts at divers times: they started out well, but other things intervened, and they fell away. Kind of like it is today, isn't it?

The explanation teaches us that rich soil is the only environment in which the Word can flourish.

How could we be that rich soil? We can't make ourselves into fertile seedbeds for the Word, unless God blesses us and gives us the capacity. One a human level, I'm not very rich soil. There's plenty of inhospitable ground in me; but what a grace God has given us!