Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
July 16, 2023: 15th Sunday in Ordinary time
Isaiah 55: 10-11; Romans 8: 18-23; Matthew 13: 1-23
The Word as seed and our hearts as the ground – this is an imagery very close to the heart of Christ and it was picked up by the apostles rightly – be it James, or Paul, or Peter, in their apostolic letters. The Word-heart encounters are crucial to determine the quality of our faith – if faith is rightly understood as right living and not only right believing. Of what use is right believing if it does not lead to right living? Is it not like having a full bottle of water in hand, and dying out of thirst?
Isaiah declares the absolute potency of the Word – there is no doubt about it, it yields fruits. The variance of this fact is due to the openness or otherwise of the one whom the Word encounters. Certainly, a logical statutory warning has to be indicated when it comes to interpreting the parable that Jesus narrates today. The warning is to see that the seed has to do with the ground, while the Word has to do with persons, persons with choices, personal freedom and will, desires and dislikes, weaknesses and strengths. Hence the primary responsibility here rests with the person who is in a position to receive the encountering Word, or not.
Secondly, everything of what is said to happen in a Word-heart encounter happens in the core of silence and interiority – no one can monitor its progress except the person himself or herself and the Word! But there is an expectation, an expectation such as a child birth – as the whole creation that yearns in pangs of child birth, every persons whole hearted positive response to the Word is salvific, not only to the person but to an extent, to the entire creation, the whole humanity! That is why every time a person’s sanctity is recognised universally, it adds to the salvific experience of the whole human community.
Returning to the conditions of encounter between the heart and the Word, we can understand the three unfavourable conditions that Jesus points out in the present human tendencies:
The first is Show Off or Exhibitionist syndrome – all that we wish to make of the encounter is only a make believe show, a manifestation of self where true or false, a putting up of an appearance. It goes well today with the media crazy world – where people are ready anytime to strike a good pose for a selfie or a instagram post, and return to their real, wrecked selves the moment later. There are always available more than one facades for the sake of the display requirements in the culture today. The reaction to the Word or the related experiences too – be it emotional, so-called spiritual, transformational or anything – remains only at the level of displays. Enough to imagine the hundreds of evangelical and charismatic conventions that ends up as any other show biz! What salvific value can it have, other than a psychological assuage?
The second is a Show In or a Receptionist Syndrome – we wish the encounter has its limits, the limits of the drawing rooms of our lives. Imagine receiving a guest at home, what do we do, we show them in, we make them feel at home in the drawing room, seated warm and cosy with a drink and a snack – beyond that we do not invite them, nor does a decent guest venture beyond that. At times we treat the Word too that way – we allow the Word to encounter our hearts, but just for the moment and once we have had an initial ‘good’ feeling, we get back to our ‘normal’ lives. Most of us remain at this stage, we are very enthusiastic about the encounter – the Sunday Masses, the daily Masses, the Bible reading, the Spiritual TV time etc. – at the end of it all, we return without much ado to our so-called daily routine and the encounter with the Word has its parallel existence without crossing roads with the rest of the life.
The third is a Show down or a Victim Syndrome – we are enthusiastic about the encounter, we allow the Word to enter our lives, but we have our lives already filled with so much cares and worries, so much threats and temptations, so many wants and desires, that the Word is choked, there is no place to enter, there is no space to breathe, there is no scope to settle down. The Word has to very quickly bow out, because we are persons, persons with our own freedom and dignity, will and discernment, that the Word respects and can only wait for us to understand the folly we are into. The worst of it is, after all this, we picture ourselves a victims. The thistles and weeds were permitted, if not planted and nurtured, by us at varied moments of our lives. Whom can we balme for it? We have a show down with the Word… arguing the pros and cons and finally the Word has to leave – not because it cannot bear fruit, but because we do not want it to.
If the encounter with the Word has to be fruitful, first of all we need to treat these experiences as an Encounter – an encounter and not merely some momentary meets or hit and runs. An encounter where we spend time, we dialogue and we allow the other to make a difference in our own world. Word wishes to encounter us, and not just swish past us. Every day is an opportunity for us to encounter the Word, how prepared are we to set up that encounter and get a make over of our own selves?
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He has completed his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.