Fifteenth Sunday - 2020

Once again the gospel text presents us with the Parable of Sower. Today we have Matthew's Account – Mark and Luke also include this teaching. Jesus presents the Word of God as the "Good Seed" the sower sows, and describes the different soil conditions the seed lands upon. Is there a way we could re-imagine this scene Jesus uses so as to see it in the context of our religious experience today? For instance, how might we interpret, in practical terms, the different soils, different religious conditions, into which the seed falls? And what identity might we give to the good seed that is sown? We could interpret the seed as the grace-to-believe placed in one’s soul at baptism, and the different soil conditions as the different religious environments that a newly baptized encounters today. So the soil is us, us Catholics, our Christian families, our parishes, our diocese, all of us Catholics that make up the Church today, we are that soil. Here it is necessary to recall Pope John Paul II’s teaching in his papal document on Catechesis - #19, where he points out that a newly baptized is given this grace, this seed of faith, potentially. [the capacity to believe placed within them by Baptism and the presence of the Holy Spirit] Now the recipient must grow and develop and become an informed, committed follower of Jesus – the question then is how will the faith of this newly baptized do. So let’s look at the four soil conditions as four different religious environments a newly baptized child faces. First condition is the Harden Path; o   For all practical purposes, religious practice by those who surround the newly baptized is dead – no one goes to church. In this case, baptism itself may not even happen. If does it, there is no hope of it ever to growing. The seed of faith lies dormant. Second condition is the Shallow Soil; o   There is some religious practice to which the newly baptized is exposed – Christmas and Easter Mass – maybe first communion, maybe even confirmation but little more. Whatever little faith that one may have begun with, withers and fades away from lack of support Third condition is the Choking Weeds; o   The newly baptized may have the early start of family support but as that one moves on to begin their own life, they find themselves surrounded by a world of strong and conflicting values; where religious practice is viewed as worthless. They are surrounded by constant negative experiences toward religion – no friends with whom to share faith – immersed in a secular culture that has no room for believers. Fourth condition is the Good Soil; o   A newly baptized, born into a family of strong, active faith, exposed to a healthy parish experience, guided by mature religious instruction and advice – this seed of faith comes alive and takes on a strong faith life of its own. It survives to become a strong, practicing Catholic. So what does this mean for the Church today and in the future?  I came across a study showing a survey of active church attendance among Catholics from 1965 to 2016. 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2016 55% 48% 42% 41% 41% 39% 35% 22% 23% 24% 22% So what will become of church in the years to come. In her book, Forming Intentional Disciples, Sherry Weddell offered these statistics of Mass attendance in the U.S. as of 2007. Using fours age grouping by generations she offers these stats; The Builders Ages 65+ 45% The Boomers Ages 47-64 20% Gen X Ages 26-46 13% Millennials Ages 18-25 10% +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In these days a new and unimaginable reality has descended upon us - literally locking the doors of every church, not by some evil oppressors of the faith but by the very stewards of the churches themselves. To the believer the secular landscape appears arid and lifeless but the sowing must continue. Perhaps the Lord is working on that arid soil, convincing it of its inability to be fruitful without His hand tilling and clearing the weeds.

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