Good Dirt
July, 13, 2014
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
They say the third time is the charm or maybe
its three strikes and you’re out, you see, for the third time in the past six
years I am preaching on this gospel. In
fact it’s my second time here at OSL. To further understand this, our Gospels
are on a three year rotation which means, for the last three rotations the
pastor has opted out of preaching on this particular gospel. I have duly noted; this is a text pastors do
not want to preach on and once I am in a parish this will be a vacation week
for me every three years.
Let me introduce you to Eddie, Eddie was born
prematurely to a hard working Irish farm family, the eighth of eleven children.
Illness due to his premature birth would be a lifelong struggle. He worked as a shepherd, tending cattle and
sheep, a position which suited him because of his frail nature and perceived
lack of mental capacity. However, he
attended school and graduated from Summerhill College at the age of eighteen.
His family were devout in their religious
beliefs. Prayer was central to their and
to Eddie’s life. He
immigrated to America with his sister after graduating from college. He entered
the United States through Ellis Island.
Eddie settled in Maryland where he would begin his studies. He would go on to graduate with honors from
St. Mary’s College, with this degree he qualified for entrance in Dunwoodie
Seminary. It was here in his first year
of seminary where he would contract double pneumonia and because of his weak lungs was unable to
fully recover and was told by the doctor’s he would have to leave seminary for
at least one year.
For his recovery he would move in with a brother
who lived in Nebraska and was nursed back to health by his sister. After a complete rest, he sailed for Italy
and attended Gregorian University.
However, the harsh Italian winter made him ill again and he would return
to the United States where he rejoined his family. Recovering again, he began work as an
accountant until he was healthy enough to resume his seminary studies. Once again he would travel abroad to Germany
and finally Innsbruck, Austria where he, now twenty-six years old, would
complete his studies and fulfill a call he first heard at the tender age of six
with his ordination to the priesthood.
Soon after his ordination, Eddie would board a
ship bound once more for the United States.
He would now follow his brother as assistant pastor to the local Irish
community in O’Neill, Nebraska. Six
months later, during Holy Week, Eddie would be transferred to Omaha, Nebraska
to assist an ailing pastor there. On Easter Sunday, a violent tornado struck
Omaha and wiped out a third of the city.
The next morning Eddie was on the streets with a local mortician picking
up the bodies of the dead and making arrangements for their burial. One hundred
fifty-five in all were killed in that tornado.
For the next two years Eddie would minister to
the needs of those affected by the tornado.
From there his ministry would reach out to finding shelter for the
seasonal workers who became stranded in Omaha because of the drought. Eventually Eddie would convert an old hotel
into a shelter for men. He recruited the
homeless men to refurbish the old hotel and initially it housed fifty seven of
them. Over the next few years Eddie
would find a larger space and continue to provide housing for the
homeless. Eddie would listen to the
stories of these men and came to realize a common thread among them. None of them had come from a loving family,
their families were broken and often they were neglected.
It was at this time Eddie decided to learn all
he could about the juvenile justice system, studying social theories and
insights of the time. The following
summer, he took seven boys from the courts, met with them three times a week
and established a healthy routine for them.
By now he had discovered his purpose, and with the permission of the
arch diocese, he moved five boys, eight to ten years of age, into his first
home for boys. This is the beginning of
what would be known as Boy’s Town. To
this day Boy’s Town serves the needs of more than 1.4 million boys, girls and
families.
And Eddie, the frail little boy who tended
sheep because he lacked mental capacity for anything else…that’s right… Eddie
is… Father Edward Joseph Flanagan. Boy’s
Town’s founder Father Flanagan.
The book of Matthew is made up of five
discourses. Today’s gospel comes from
what is referred to as the Parables discourse.
The parables discourse provides
several parables for the Kingdom of Heaven. The other four are:
1. The Sermon on the Mount, and is one of the best known and most quoted parts of
the New Testament. It includes the Beatitudes and
the Lord's Prayer.
2. The missionary discourse provides instructions to the Twelve Apostles.
3. The community discourse is often called the Discourse on the Church.
It includes the parables of The Lost Sheep and The Unforgiving Servant
which also refer to the Kingdom of Heaven and finally,
4. The ecological discourse and it is also referred to as the Discourse on the
End Time. The discourse is mostly about judgment and the expected
conduct of the followers of Jesus
Each of the discourses has
shorter parallel passages in the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke.
In our gospel today we hear the Parable of the
Sower, Jesus tells of the sowing of seed and the effective results dependent on
how the seeds are sown. First, we need
to understand that we are all sowers of seed, as well as, the ground to which
the seed is sown. We are told that even
good seed will not produce good fruit if it is carelessly sown.
My dad was an agronomist, his career was spent
in the dirt. He was able to look at a crop in the field and tell you precisely
what was needed in the soil to improve the crop health and yield. He would
often talk about how unhealthy soil would lead to under producing, unhealthy
crops. He was also able to look at soil
sample test results and tell you what additional nutrients the soil would need
to improve the yield of the specific crop in the field. He understood that seed put in soil was not
enough to guarantee a desirable yield, he understood the soil needed to be
cultivated, fertilized and have the right amount of moisture to produce a good
crop. Good soil, good seeds, good results.
In addition, he understood that the quality of
the soil could vary in the same field.
There could be areas which could not produce as well as other
areas. They may be too wet, too rocky,
or contain less or more nutrients all of which would change the resulting
yields.
Jesus tells us in the gospel today that we,
like a field, have fertile soil. We also
have shallow soil, and rocky soil. He
explains that in the shallow soil the seed may take root but will eventually
wither and die because of its lack of depth.
We experience that in receiving the word when we falter in our faith and
the first signs of resistance. For
example, it is easy for us to talk about Jesus and our faith in the confines of
this building or to someone who we know has a relationship with God
already. But, when we are approached by
a situation where we may not know the circumstances, a stranger, a coworker or
a casual acquaintance we withdraw and are not as bold in our proclamation of
faith and of our relationship with God.
In the rocky, thorn ridden soil, no seeds will
grow. This is where the evil one
exists. Satan lies in wait to destroy
the seeds which fall within his grasp.
It’s in those moments of weakness where we fail to live up to our call
as Christians, where we fall short of His grace, it is here, where we have
forgotten the promises of Jesus, that Satan wins and where we will not bear fruit. It is in this soil where we are deceived by
the falsehoods of the world, material Gods, earthly wealth which gets in the
way of our relationship with our Father.
It is in the rich fertile soil where God
plant’s his Word, rich soil which is planted with seeds of our baptism,
cultivated by the promises of the Eucharist and fulfilled in our salvation, won
for us on the cross. Promises of a
relationship with God, which cannot be severed. It is in this soil we plant our God given
gifts and abilities and where they grow so they can be utilized to glorify Him. In each of us are given special gifts:
IT DEPENDS WHOSE HANDS IT’S IN
A basketball
in my hands is worth about $19
A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is
worth about $33 million
It depends on whose hands it’s in
A baseball in my hands is worth about $6
A baseball in Albert Pujolz hands is worth $23 million
It depends on whose hands it’s in
A tennis racket is useless in my hands
A tennis racket in Pete Sampras’ hands
is a Wimbledon Championship
It depends on whose hands it’s in
A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal
A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea
It depends on whose hands it’s in
A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy
A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends on whose hands it’s in
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands
is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands
A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is
worth about $33 million
It depends on whose hands it’s in
A baseball in my hands is worth about $6
A baseball in Albert Pujolz hands is worth $23 million
It depends on whose hands it’s in
A tennis racket is useless in my hands
A tennis racket in Pete Sampras’ hands
is a Wimbledon Championship
It depends on whose hands it’s in
A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal
A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea
It depends on whose hands it’s in
A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy
A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends on whose hands it’s in
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands
is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands
It depends on whose
hands it’s in
Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse
Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will produce
salvation for the entire world.
It depends on whose hands it’s in
Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse
Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will produce
salvation for the entire world.
It depends on whose hands it’s in
As you see now it depends on whose hands it’s in.
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God’s hands because
It depends on whose
hands it’s in
An example of allowing the seeds planted in
fertile soil occurred twenty-four years ago today, at Wembley Stadium in
London, Live Aid was the brainchild of Bob Geldof, the worldwide concert raised
more than $110 million. In 1984, Geldof traveled to Ethiopia after hearing news
reports of a horrific famine that had killed hundreds of thousands of
Ethiopians and threatened to kill millions more. After returning to London, he
called Britain's and Ireland's top pop artists together to record a single to benefit
Ethiopian famine relief. "Do They
Know It's Christmas?" was performed by "Band Aid," an ensemble of
those artists. It was the best-selling single in Britain to that date and
raised more than $10 million.
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" was
also a No. 1 hit in the United States and inspired U.S. pop artists to come
together and perform "We Are the World," The single went to the top
of the charts and eventually raised $44 million.
This is a great example of talented individuals
using their hands, their heads, and their hearts to serve those in need. A
product of seeds planted in fertile soil which came to fruition.
The central lesson [of the Gospel] is that ‘the
kingdom of God inaugurated by Jesus will not be established without many
serious failures.’ The final success of
the kingdom is assured. The goodness of the good soil is not an innate
characteristic of some who hear, but is the quality of what they produce.
Those who hear and understand God’s word will
bear a fantastic harvest, which will wipe out all the losses caused by the
deficiencies of the other soils. God has chosen us and planted his Word in us.
We pray that he will enlighten us through his Holy Spirit that we may receive
it, understand it, and growing in faith, hope and love, may live according to
us. So, God’s kingdom indeed comes of itself. We pray that it may come also to
us, and through us, to others. The life of the Christian is the result of the
power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit human beings are destined for
death, even the "good" ones.
The church faces many difficulties as those who
are called move between their earthly empowerment which leads to death, and the
empowerment of the Spirit which leads to life. But the future of the church is
assured. God has given his word, and it will not fail. God waters the earth and
causes the crops to grow. Likewise, God alone insures the richness and vitality
of the kingdom.
