Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
                  The Parable of the Sower
                      29 October 1989
                           ----

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

How  familiar,  and  how  simple  seems  to  us, appears to us today's
parable  of  the seed and of the sower; and yet, how relevant it is to
us,  and  how  much  more  thought we should give to it. We forget the
setting  itself of the parable, the imagery of the sower and the seed,
and  we dont see in it an image of Christ, walking along the roads and
the paths of Galilee and Judea; and everywhere He went, people came to
the  roadside  because they have heard, as the Blind Man have heard of
whom  Saint  Marc  reports, that He was a Teacher, that His words were
true, that they had in them a power of life.

And  people  came,  and  lined  the  roads, and lined the streets, and
listened.  Some  were  prepared  for the message; some have been in an
agony of mind, have been asking themselves questions which hitherto no
one  have been able to answer. But others came, as so many people come
now  to a preacher, to an evangelist, to a leader of any side, came to
see  a  man of whom one spoke, and to listen to what he had to say. He
was  not  answering  any of their questions, He was not meeting any of
their  needs,  except  perhaps  the  desire  to  see  someone that was
outstanding,  someone  unique in his time. They heard the word, but it
fell  at their ears, they find it beautiful, lovely, true - but it did
not  go  beyond  this.  They  were  listening  to words, they were not
listening  to  the  cry of their own soul that was hungry for words of
truth.

And  so,  when  He  had  passed,  they  all returned to what was their
ordinary,  their  normal  life. They might have gone home and repeated
these words, saying, Wasn't it lovely? Didnt He speak well? - and then
they went back to what was life, ordinary life, day-to-day life...

Others,  who  had  come  to  the  roadside,  received the message with
emotion,  it  stirred  something  in  their hearts, something in their
minds,  it answered something in them. And they received it and hugged
it  to  themselves,  and  returned  home;  but the moment they were no
longer  by  the  road, at home, the concerns of home overwhelmed them:
there  was so much to do, so much to think about, there was so much in
life, there was no time to reflect again and again on the words heard,
there  was  no  time  to sit quietly and to look in imagination at the
face they had seen, to rehearse the voice they have heard.

We have another parable about those who have been called to the Bridal
Feast  of  the  King:  they  heard  a call, they knew they were called
personally  -  but  could  they go? The one had bought a field, he was
rooted  in  it,  tied to it, a prisoner of it; others have bought five
pairs  of  oxen  -  they  had to try them, they had something to do in
life,  a  vocation,  a job, something great - or something simply that
matters  supremely  in a personal way, as the last one: he had taken a
bride - how could he spend time for anyone else?

Those  are  the  people who receive the word, who receive it truly, in
their  heart, but there are so many things that matter - tomorrow will
do,  or,  if  we  only could reduce the message to something liveable,
simple, not to the absoluteness of it!

And then, those who receive the message, like the rich soil that could
receive  the message, receive a seed and bear fruit. Those people were
not  simply  better people, they probably were not better people; they
were people who had a question in their mind and heart, people who had
a longing, people for whom their daily life was too narrow, too small,
people who were aware that their soul was deep, and vast and could not
be  filled  with the trivialities - or even the noble, the good things
of  life:  they received the message, they took it to heart, deep into
them, and they bore fruit because it was answering a need.

Now,  we can apply it to ourselves: how many of us listen to the words
of  the  Gospel, listen to the words of preaching, read books that are
full  of  interest  and depth, and they store it in their memory, they
enjoy it - but that is the end; they can quote it, they can pass it on
to others, - but that is all.

And  there  are  so  many  of  us  who  have received the message with
enthusiasm,  with  passion,  knowing that this message is an answer to
all  there  is  in us of longing, of hunger, of greatness, indeed; but
then,  life  is  so  complex,  there is so much to do! And in all this
doing,  in  all  this complexity the words is left aside - for another
time,  for  another  day,  when  I  will be old enough not to have any
concerns:  then  I  can  turn  back  to this glorious moment when life
unfolded itself in all its splendour - I keep it in my memory!

What about us, receiving the message and bearing fruit?

But how does this message reach us? I remember a Russian priest saying
to me, I read the Gospel daily, and I respond to it very seldom. But I
read  it  daily because I never know whether today, or tomorrow, or on
another  day  I  will be the barren roadside, or the weeds by the way,
or,  of  a sudden, whether this word will not fall on a small patch in
me which is capable of receiving it and bearing fruit.

Isn't that simple, isn't that encouraging? We all are the three things
described in the parable of the Gospel; but if we give a chance to God
Who  speaks, to God, Who passes through our life, to God Who knocks at
our heart - from time to time we will receive the message with joy and
let  go  of  it;  but  from  time to time it will reach a depth in our
heart, a core of our life and be the answer that will change it.

Let  us therefore listen, listen to the words of the Gospel day in and
day  out;  listen  to  the voice of our conscience, listen to what the
deepest  self  says  to us about life, about truth, about reality; and
from  time  to  time  we  will have been the good ground that can bear
fruit.

This  parable,  so  simple,  so  clear,  if we only apply it, can be a
beginning of a new life. Amen.


                           ----
* All texts are copyright:   Estate of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
                            ---
           Metropolitan Anthony of  Sourozh Library
                 http://www.mitras.ru/eng/


[показать]