In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us the Parable of the Sower. The Word of God is the Seed , sown generously across the world. But the fate of ...
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us the Parable of the Sower. The Word of God is the Seed, sown generously across the world. But the fate of that seed depends entirely on the Soil where it lands. It can be snatched away by the evil one, wither on rocky ground, or be choked by the anxieties and riches of the world. Or, Jesus says, it can land on rich soil: those who "hear the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance."
Today, we honor those who were the richest soil: the Korean Martyrs. St. Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn and his companions heard the seed of the Gospel, and they allowed it to take such deep root that nothing could choke it out—not torture, not loss of property, not the threat of execution.
They understood the third "S," which connects the seed to the harvest: Sacrifice. They knew exactly what St. Paul teaches in our first reading: that the natural body is like a bare seed. It must be "sown" in the earth—it must die, it must be sacrificed—so that it can be raised imperishable, in glory and power. Their martyrdom was the ultimate act of protecting the seed God had planted in them. Their persecutors thought they were destroying the faith; the martyrs knew their blood was just watering the soil.
We are all called to be that rich soil. We must examine our hearts and ask: what thorns are choking the Word in my life? We must pray to the martyrs for the courage to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to embrace the Word and "bear fruit through perseverance."
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