St Matthew, Chapter 13, verses: 1 - 6, The Seed: by the wayside and on rocky ground.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the sower) Part 1. 

We begin a new Chapter of the gospel as told by St Matthew.  Christ has instructed the people in their heavenly family ties.  He took the opportunity to show the crowd that we are all one family, those who do the will of God.  It does not matter that we are naturally brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers.  In God's family we are all one, we are all brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers because we do God's will here on earth. 

Christ retired after giving this lesson and went to the beach.  He sat on the shore watching the waves come and go until the crowds surrounded him and there was no room or place for peace and contemplation.  St Matthew tells us that Christ got into a boat and began to preach.  He did something different this time.  Instead of instructing the people directly he taught in parables.  He told stories.  He gave instructions in messages that the crowd enjoyed but did not understand.  He spoke in parables.  

Most everyone has heard about the parable of the sower.  Christ tells it this way,  "Behold, the sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came and ate them up.  And other seeds fell upon rocky ground, where they had not much earth; and they sprang up at once, because they had no depth of earth; but when the sun rose they were scorched, and because they withered away.    They had no root."

When I first read this parable I did not understand it.  It was just a story for me that had no meaning.  Even the explanation that is given, explaining about the evil one snatching away what was given, did not make much sense.  It was not until the spirit moved me and opened my eyes that I was able to see and understand how I was the one sown on rocky ground.  It hit me like a ton of bricks that my life could have been different, would have changed had I  had roots to anchor me in my spiritual life.  

I recall my high school years in the early sixties, 1961.  We had just moved from the downtown area, to a new subdivision of single family homes.  This was a step up for our family because we lived in rental property before and now we had a home to call our own.  This also meant new friends, new school, new church, and new environment.  There was no public school nearby to attend.  Private school was the only nearby school.  I am 13 going on 14 attending high school.  

I tell this to give some background into my roots.  The private school is Catholic and we had just come from a Baptist background.  So everything was new to me.  The entire Catholic experience was new and exciting.  Service was in Latin and it was inspiring to me to be a part of this new life.  I sought to learn all that I could about it and studied much.  The school was Catholic also and most of the students came from the Catholic elementary school.  I worked hard to fit in.  It was the need to be accepted that drove me and it was the new Catholic experience that inspired me. 

I became so involved in the church that I expressed interest in becoming a priest.  This stirred great excitement in the church and in the school.  The word, the seed, was planted within me but it had no root.  My intentions were expressed in my sophomore year, but by my senior year that seed had withered and my interest died.  I look back and think how different my life may have been had I had roots to carry me through to priesthood.  The support was not there, not at home nor in the school.  Sure I was moved up and my studies accelerated but I was left in the student body, subject to the whims and taunts of my fellow students. 

Trying to fit in had a tremendous impact on the forthcoming change of mind.  There was no one to relate to.  The priest were available.  The nuns were encouraging.  But there was no roots to sustain the new life that was trying to take hold.  I look back and think that if I were taken out of the student body and placed in another school especially designed for those of my age who expressed intent for the priesthood, maybe my roots would have grown.  If I were given special nurturing, maybe my roots would have spread.  If I were set aside and taken out of the rocky ground, I would have had a chance to blossom to yield fruit at an earlier age.  When the spirit opened my eyes, the thoughts of these experiences flooded me with emotions that brought forth tears.  I had no roots and they did not grow, and when the sun came, I withered and died.

Today my roots are in Christ, solidly planted in his words, and the Holy Spirit guides me.  Roots are essential to new life.  Christ is our earth.  He is our soil.  He is our nourishment that allows our roots to grow and flourish.  Do you have roots in Christ?  Are you sure of your nourishment?  What soil are you grown in?  The evil one awaits, to snatch away your seed.

St Matthew, Chapter 12, verses: 46 - 50, Family Relationships.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus and His brethren). 

In the midst of his prophecy concerning the Pharisees, Christ is interrupted and  someone said to him, "Behold, thy mother and thy brethren are standing outside, seeking thee."    For while he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brethren were standing outside, seeking to speak to him.   

Christ uses every opportunity to teach.  He uses every opportunity to open eyes and to challenge minds to understand truths.   He has finished taking to task the Pharisees and now he uses this opportunity concerning his relatives to demonstrate that we are all children of God.  We are all family.  We are all brothers and sisters and mothers, belonging to Christ and to God.  For this must have been a shocking expression to the people standing about him that he would not stop what he was doing, give precedence to his family, mother and brothers, to speak with them.  But Christ seized upon the moment to challenge the minds of the people to think beyond the flesh.  He challenged the crowd to expand their minds, their thoughts, their feelings, their understanding of who they were and the family they belonged to.

Christ asked the man who told him of his relatives,  '' Who is my mother and who are my brethren?"   This was a question that must have shocked the man and the crowd for they knew Mary and the relatives of Christ.  Some had spoken with Mary.  Some knew where she was from.  Some knew his brothers.  So for Christ to ask this question must have shocked the crowd that he would not know who they were or that he would ask who they were.  But Christ wanted to teach.  He wanted to inform.  He wanted the people to know who they were and the family they were a part of.

And stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he said, "Behold my mother and my brethren!"  And this demonstration must have been even more proof that something was wrong.  For Christ had, in the eyes of the crowd, forsaken his natural mother and brothers for the disciples.  He had called and spoken of them as though they gave birth to him, which could imply such dishonor to his natural mother.  But Christ was a teacher.  Christ was a healer.  Christ was the Messiah and he had to shock the people to wake them up from their dream world that they may know who they were and know their heavenly family. 

Christ did not bring dishonor to Mary.  He did not bring slight to his brothers.  But, what he did do is to help the people put in perspective their relationship to each other.  For we are all brothers and sisters and mothers of each other.  For Christ then told the crowd,  "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother."   For who gives birth to Christ?  Who is related to Christ?  Who is the sister of Christ?  He who carries the spirit of Christ within him and does the will of the Father in heaven and on earth is the mother and brother, and sister of Christ.


And Christ taught.  He showed the people that he should spend no less time with those who are his natural mother and brothers than with those who are his spiritual brothers and sisters and mothers.  For spiritual mothers give birth to the spirit of Christ in their children when they do the will of God.  And spiritual brothers carry the message of Christ within them and spread the good news of the kingdom of heaven.  And spiritual sisters marry and love those who need the love of Christ in their lives that they may in turn bring forth the eternal life of Christ in others.


We all are brothers and sisters and mothers of Christ when we do God's will.  Are you a mother of Christ?  Are you a brother of Christ?  Are you a sister of Christ?  The will of God is the tie that binds us all in one heavenly family.   Do you belong to the family?  

St Matthew, Chapter 12, verses: 45, The Unoccupied House: Seven evil guest are invited in.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The sign of Jonas) Part 5. 

Christ continues his parable of the house unoccupied.  He has told the Pharisees about what an unclean spirit does when he leaves a man, how it roams through dry places and finds no place to rest.  But when it tires it returns to the place of previous occupancy and finds it unoccupied, swept and decorated, ready for occupancy.  The Pharisees have wondered how this parable relates to them because they believe that they have no unclean spirits.  After all, they are the keepers of the Law.  They are the protectors of the Hebrew people and they are the scholars who know and love the scriptures.  But they do not have unclean spirits.

Christ concludes his parable with,  "Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.  So shall it be with this evil generation also."  

And so the parable is finished and the conclusion is drawn, the prediction of Pharisees' destiny.  It is foretold that they will be inhabited by seven more unclean spirits more evil than the first.  It is foretold that their state will be worse than the first state they were in.  For Christ has again called them an evil generation.  He has again foretold of their downfall.  He has again shown them their future that they may repent and be saved.  But again they do not listen.  Again they do not take heed of the message.  And in the interim their house is still left unoccupied for unclean spirits to come in and make their state worse than the present.

Thank you God for your mercy!  Thank you God for your patience!  Thank you God for the love that you bear for your children!  For we are not an evil generation, but just lost sheep seeking to find our shepherd.  You have told us of our future.  You have given us the message of what will happen from our current state when the unclean spirits return.  You have given us an opportunity to get our house in order that we may not be unoccupied.  You have told us of the seven more unclean spirits to come, that will live with us, making our state worse than the first.  Help us to find the true owner that should live with us.  Help us find the living words of Christ that we may beseech the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.  Forgive us of our sins and have patience that we may be able to repent before the thief comes.  

Do you have unclean spirits dwelling with you?  Do you have a house unoccupied ready for more evil to dwell with you?  Come, open your house to Christ.  Open your doors to the living word that you may have life.  Seek the Holy Spirit that you may know true life, true love, true justice, true peace, and the true God.