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The sower goes out to sow

Homily by Fr. Robert Deiters, SJ
15th Sunday Ordinary Time [A] at 12 Noon Mass
St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo

A seed is a tiny thing. With a puff of my breath I can blow it out of my hand, and out of my life. Jesus tells us that the word of the kingdom of God, His word comes to us a tiny seed, a seed that can grow—“even to a hundredfold”-- in our hearts and way of life.

When and how are seeds sown in our hearts? One example of such a seed is the news these days about the life of the Chinese man who grew up as a teen-ager and university student in the years of the Cultural Revolution in China when young people were incited to hate and cruelty. But he became a leader in the peaceful movement for a free democratic society with laws and fair judges protecting human rights. For that he was awarded a Nobel Prize that he was not allowed to receive; instead he was judged guilty of “subverting state power.” Near the end of his 11-years of prison, he died of terminal cancer.
When you hear about his life, don’t you feel admiration for this man, and an impulse, a seed bursting to grow—to draw you to be like him: to stand up for what you sense is right, what is fair and honest? The news about his life is like a seed dropped into our lives.


Seeds that God sows in our hearts are much more abundant and everyday events than we realize. Enjoying a cool morning and clear blue sky is a seed that can grow into praise and thanksgiving to God. Or seeing an office companion spontaneously offering to help another worker who is having trouble is a seed falling into my life inspiring me to do the same.


The wisdom of the ages tells us to learn through reading or other media how saints or other noble people have received and nurtured the seeds of the kingdom of God.


Take a little time each day to open your eyes to see the seeds that fall into your life, and plant them and watch them grow, while thanking the generous God who sows so generously.
 

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