This week’s readings remind us that we do live in a wonderful world. A world of life, and despite the sufferings that we encounter, we still can find beauty in the life that God gives us. The readings from Isaiah, Paul’s letter to the Romans and the parable of the sower from Matthew’s Gospel, employ images of nature to teach us to have hope. God’s blessing will not be deterred, Isaiah promises us. The Word of God, Jesus, came forth from God to nourish our lives. Once nourished by Jesus, we become fertile grounds for the blessings and goodness of God that are harvested for others. But the Gospel reminds us that our grounds are not always fertile. Sometimes they are rocky and full of thorns. Sometimes we get so distracted by things that are of no value that we do not even realise that we are not harvesting goodness anymore.
I approach this parable of Jesus with my own experience of having a ground that does not always allow the word of God to be planted and to grow. There have been many occasions when I allowed my ground to be barren, with my own insecurities and my lack of depth. When that happens, my prayer life becomes shallow, yielding nothing. And sin of course can push the word of God out. My communion with God risks being lost.
Paul, writing to the people of Rome, uses creation to explain something that is really worth our time to hold on to and to reflect deeply. We are part of creation that is sometimes disconnected to God. Sometimes we make choices that destroy relationships and creation. And that is not the original plan of God. This plan of God has been disrupted by sin, Disrupted by not deterred. For Paul, we do not focus on what is only temporary. Suffering and pain will give way to new life. And we feel that hope within us, within our bodies. Our yearnings, our longings and our desires are really for God and God alone. But when we get impatient, when we get distracted and take our eyes off our redemption, all our longings are turned towards everything that is ungodly.
So much hope is given to us in these readings. We are God’s fertile ground indeed. But if we ever find ourselves like a rocky ground, or like a ground with many thorns, and that our faith has been taken away by distractions, let us remember that we have the Spirit within us, as Paul encourages us to remember. And with this Spirit within us, we live in hope.