In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
My dearly beloved in Our Lord,
Today’s parable is not only very rich and beautiful, it is also particular, as Pope St Gregory the Great explains: “The Truth Himself hath explained it, and, after that, it beseemeth not man's frailty to fritter away His exposition by any further comment. (…) the Lord Himself hath vouchsafed to give this explanation, and that, not for this parable only, but that ye may know in what manner to interpret others, whereof He hath not given the meaning.” (5th homily on the Gospels)
As I said last Sunday with regards to TIME, we need to make good use of time.
The same is true with regards to all other gifts that come from God: We need to make good use of them. This way the outcome will be good. We will have brought forth fruit for eternity, even hundredfold.
Not only the beginning of our Christian life and journey must be good, but also its progression and its end. The beginning and the last end do not so much depend on us, they come from God:
The first grace, the grace of justification, cannot be merited by man, it is a totally free gift of God.
The last grace, that of final perseverance, can equally not be merited by us. Therefore we need to ask for it in our daily prayers. In this manner we can obtain it infallibly, as the Saints and theologians teach.
The progression depends very much on the efforts of our good will.
To be more precise, everything depends on God, and everything depends on us – but in a different manner. God is free to offer whatever graces He chooses to grant us, whenever and by whatever means He chooses. God is totally free, He is also free in the choice of how He hands out His benefits. We are not totally free. Our free will has its limits because our will is not almighty, it often encounters obstacles and limitations: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak.” (Mt 26:41) Also we are not free in the sense that we have the moral obligation to do that which is good, and to avoid doing that which is evil. Adam and Eve were not to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If they had obeyed God, they and we with them would not be in this terrible dilemma and temptation all the time: to know that which is good, and which we should do – but to be attracted to do that which we know to be evil. God had shown the greatest mercy by putting such a light commandment and precept to Adam and Eve, one which they could easily keep and obey! But pride, insinuated by the serpent’s temptation, threw them off guard and made them to offend God.
Pope St Gregory goes on to comment: “If I spake of myself, who would believe me when I say that riches are thorns? Thorns prick, but riches lull to rest. And yet riches are indeed thorns, for the anxiety they bring is a ceaseless pricking to the minds of their owners, and, if they lead into sin, they are thorns which bloodily tear the soul. But we understand from another Evangelist (Mt 23:22) that in this place the Lord speaketh, not of riches themselves, but of the deceitfulness of riches. Those riches are deceitful riches, which can be ours only for a little while; those riches are deceitful riches, which cannot relieve the poverty of our souls. They are the only true riches, which make us rich in virtues.” Holy Church uses the following words from the holy Pope’s comment in the Divine Office during this week: “If then, dearly beloved brethren, ye seek to be rich, earnestly desire the true riches. If ye would be truly honourable, strive after the kingdom of heaven. If ye love the bravery of titles, hasten to have your names written down at Court above, where Angels are. Take to heart the Lord's words which your ear heareth. The food of the soul is the word of God: when the stomach is sick it throweth up again the food which is put into it, and so is the soul sick when a man heareth and digesteth not in his memory the Word of God. And if any man cannot keep his food, that man's life is in desperate case.”
St Paul writes to the Romans: “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” (Rom 9:16) This is why the elation of pride is the great obstacle to our serving God, as the Apostles teach so insistently: “But he giveth greater grace. Wherefore he saith: God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” (Jac 4:6) “In like manner, ye young men, be subject to the ancients. And do you all insinuate humility one to another, for God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace.” (1Petr 5:5) Our Lord himself teaches that the first condition of discipleship, after firmly willing it, is to renounce ourselves, to renounce our own self, that is, our self-will (Mt 16:24; Lk 9:23).
It is obviously a fatality for the ground to be rocky, or infested with thorns, or hard. But this is where the analogy must be respected! While the soil is not responsible for how it finds itself when receiving the seed, our mind and will bear such a responsibility in order to receive God’s gifts, as Our Lord explains: “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. And those by the wayside are they who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. Now those upon the rock are they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, but believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among the thorns, these are they who have heard, and as they go their way are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen.”
Let us therefore use this time of grace just before Lent! Let us ponder the state of our soul where God wants to plant the good seed, His Word, His Revelation. Are we persevering, or do we allow the devil to take away the seed? Are we of a superficial spirit so that some temptation will sooner or later unplug God’s life and grace from our heart? Are we abandoning ourselves to the triple concupiscence of the flesh, of the eyes, or the pride of life (cf 1Jn 2:16)? “… the world passeth away, and the concupiscence thereof: but he that doth the will of God, abideth for ever.” (1Jn 2:17)
We need to be aware of our fallen nature and of its wounds. Let us undertake, as every year, and better than last year, to use the right remedy and medicine for our weaknesses, evil inclinations and vices. In this way God’s grace will be able to bear fruit, that is, great merit which will be given to us in the true life, that of heavenly bliss!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
P. Arnold Trauner (paterarnold@hotmail.com), njemački i engleski
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