Our Lord tells us this parable in order that we may come to understand.
He sows his word to each and every soul.
There is no one deprived of the word of God.
And then he gives a series of reasons why, in some cases, the word does not take root.
And ultimately, they are all rooted in the same fault.
We are unwilling to suffer in this life.
And so some pleasure that is contrary to the word of God attracts us away from the word of God
because the seed is not planted in that rich soil.
For anyone knows that in order for a seed to come to full stature,
much diligence must be made.
The soil must be well tilled and the soil must be well tended to.
That our Lord intends to use as an analogy for the penance we must do for our sins.
For God sows the word, but we do have our responsibility.
We must nurture that word by constantly meditating upon it
and doing all those mortifications that are within our power
in order that the word be not stripped away from us.
And so let us strive.
Not to be like those who are concerned with the things of this world
or the illicit pleasures of this world,
particularly of that first group who hear the word of God
but have no need for it
and from the very offset they seem to have no understanding for it.
But let us also remember that we are to recommend all souls to Christ
in order that he may overcome the hardness of their hearts
as we pray to him to overcome the hardness of our own hearts
and most especially,
let us entrust all souls to the care of her who is the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God.
For even if there are those about who would destroy the word of God,
if they are in the presence of the Mother of God,
then there is hope for their salvation.
For under the influence of her maternal love,
even the hardest of hearts can be turned from unbelief
into great believers of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
and enter that life of true penitence.
And so,
let us rejoice that the Lord has come to sow the word to all of us
as he has sowed it to us
and then let us strive to do all that we possibly can
in order to preserve that word in our heart,
most especially by striving to meditate upon that word constantly
and then putting that word into practice
by all our thoughts, all our words, and all our actions
so that we may truly serve the Lord in this life
in order that we may attain union with him forever in the life to come.
Amen.
Amen.