Here’s a question you probably didn’t expect: What kind of soil are you?
The Gospel we just heard talks about soil – and which kind can help the seed that is the Word of God take root and grow. Jesus in this parable makes clear: you don’t want to be soil that is full of thorns, or rocks. You don’t want to be dirt that isn’t deep and can be burned by the sun.
You want to be soil that is rich. You want to be soil that will produce fruit.
But what makes soil rich? What makes it healthy?
Wondering about that led me to the website of South Dakota State University, which has an agriculture school that addresses this topic.
In short: good healthy soil is packed with nutrients and organisms. It can retain water. As the website puts it: “It consistently grows crops or native vegetation.”
Looked at another way, the healthiest soil is open to the life around it, receptive to God’s creation. If you want to be rich soil, it means welcoming whatever seeds God throws your way – and whatever might be nearby to help those seeds grow.
This is the real message that Jesus wants us to hear.
What kind of soil are we?
Strive to be the kind that welcomes the seeds that are sown — the word of God, the teachings of Jesus Christ. Be the soil that will help those seeds to grow.
That means providing nourishment and sustenance and hope. It means helping to bring forth fruit.
In other words: it means to continue the work that the sower began.
Are we doing that? Are we being the soil God needs us to be?
We come here every Sunday, sit here quietly and hear God’s word. We listen to the Gospel. We hear the Beatitudes. We follow the parables. We pay attention. We pray.
But what do we do next? God gives us the seeds.
What are we doing to help those seeds bear fruit?
We need to cultivate what we are given, to feed others who are hungry for the Gospel. We need to live out what we have heard.
Live it out in charity. In mercy. In compassion. In faithfulness and love for the Lord. These are the fruits of God’s word.
How do we start? We need to begin by remembering those who are forgotten. Comforting those who grieve. Extending a hand to the poor, the abandoned, the marginalized, the weak. We need to be people of justice, of prayer, of hope.
If we just take in the seeds we receive and don’t do anything with them, they are wasted. They go nowhere.
We need to make them grow.
That’s what it really means to be the rich soil.
Are we doing that?
If you have the chance, I’d urge you to take some time to read Pope Leo’s new encyclical, Magnifica humanitas or “Magnificent Humanity.” It’s a remarkable and even prophetic reflection on social justice in the 21st century. The Holy Father offers us timely questions about what technology is doing to us, especially the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence, or AI.
But the title hints at something even deeper and more beautiful. And it connects in an important way to this Gospel.
Know this: We are all part of “Magnificent Humanity.”
Humanity. The very word “humanity” comes from the Greek “humus,”
which means “earth.” Just go back to Genesis, to the very beginning of our story. Genesis tells us that “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth.”
This is what we came from, the “dust of the earth.” But by grace, we have it in us to be more – to be rich soil, created and shaped by the hands of God, made to be ”magnificent.”
Pope Leo reminds us that because of our shared humanity, we have dignity. We are magnificent. Every one of us.
He repeatedly underscores the beauty, value and dignity of all human life. In many ways, in fact, it is a pro-life encyclical.
And: I think it echoes the message of this Gospel. It calls on us to be fully human, creations of God, formed from dust to strive to be good soil.
He writes: “The ability to care for one another is a fundamental dimension of our humanity, one that is learned and mastered through lived experience. Reading stories to a child, offering company to an elderly person and arranging a home so that is welcoming are simple gestures often rooted in family life. They teach us…to recognize others as persons worthy of attention.”
This parable from Matthew offers us this simple challenge: live out our humanity. Be what we are meant to be, what we are created to be, what we are called to be.
Be the rich soil. Don’t let the thorns of sin and selfishness take over. Don’t let the wild birds of the world carry it off. Don’t give in to the rocks of indifference or the stones cynicism or dry pebbles that cause hardness of heart. Absorb all that the Lord offers us. Listen to his word. Nurture it. Grow something beautiful.
Be open to God’s creative work and continue what he began.
The great saint for whom this parish is named certainly did that. And over the last few weeks I’ve been reminded just how many in this parish are following his generous example.
I wanted to take a moment this morning to say something that I can’t say enough:
Thank you.
Thank you for every prayer, every rosary, every Mass, every lit candle, every card and note. Less than four weeks ago, I underwent cancer surgery. And here I am, back in the pulpit today. I’ll know more in a few months, but right now the prognosis is very good. Your prayers helped make that possible – along with the love and good care of my wife Siobhain and the friendship and support of Our Blessed Mother.
God is good.
I’ve said to a lot of people: Siobhain has had to do a lot of things over the last few weeks that they don’t tell you about during pre-Cana. But as a dear friend of ours from New York put it: “Greg, when you got cancer, she got cancer, too.” I’ve been reminded of this so often these weeks. We are one flesh. I’m so blessed to have Siobhain by my side, in sickness and in health. That is love.
Love is the best kind of soil.
My message to you this weekend: be the soil that will let the seeds of God’s love take root and grow.
Because, if we are open to God’s miraculous work, we cannot help but be the humanity we are meant to be — truly, wonderfully magnificent.
