Today’s readings can be found here.
Reflection
The parable of the sower that Jesus tells in today’s Gospel is an extremely simple and effective way to help listeners who follow him to understand “in what way” they actually take his word seriously, or do not do so.
Indeed, one can follow Jesus with the superficiality of someone who hears something and then immediately forgets it. You only have to question people on their way out of Sunday Mass to see that sometimes not even a fleeting image of the Word heard or the prayers said has stuck with them.
One can also follow Jesus with that easy enthusiasm that gets fired up over nothing but ends with equal speed, leaving a terrible bitterness in the mouth.
Then there are those who listen to the Word of Jesus but give more importance to the concerns of life by idolatrizing problems, to the point of letting them overshadow everything else.
Finally, however, there are also those who listen to the Word and keep it carefully in their hearts to the point of letting it change their lives; these latter are the ones for whom Jesus can truly say, “It was worth it.”
Thus, today’s Gospel subjects us to a fine examination of conscience. “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
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Father Luigi Maria Epicoco is a priest of the Aquila Diocese and teaches Philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University and at the ISSR ‘Fides et ratio,’ Aquila. He dedicates himself to preaching, especially for the formation of laity and religious, giving conferences, retreats and days of recollection. He has authored numerous books and articles. Since 2021, he has served as the Ecclesiastical Assistant in the Vatican Dicastery for Communication and columnist for the Vatican’s daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
