Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: July 12, 2020
Occasionally someone brought up in a fringe Christian group is surprised to discover that the Catholic Church is indeed something they value: a “Bible believing” Church. In fact the Catholic Church is THE Church of the Bible, for it was members of our Church who were inspired by God both to accept the Hebrew Scriptures into her faith and to write the New Testament which completed the Lord’s everlasting revelation. Scripture is part of every Mass and other Catholic religious services, for the Bible is God’s principal means of communication with us.
This year the Gospel of Matthew is read on Sundays. An important characteristic of this Gospel is how it addresses issues due to Christianity’s origins in Judaism. St. Matthew wrote for a “mixed” community, made up not only of former pagans but also many who had been Jewish. Many issues naturally arose among them. And those Christians who had once been Jewish were still hurting. Their former religion had banished them from synagogues; they were shunned by old friends and even family. They were, frankly, still struggling to come to terms with this pain. They also were still learning to understand so much that was different now. God’s offer of salvation comes through Jesus Christ and not through their “old” ways of believing and acting, but old habits are hard to change.
Remembering this sometimes adds new light on the Gospel when we read it. For instance, try it when considering this weekend’s passage – a portion of which is the famous Parable of the Sower in Mt 13:3-9. While the Lord Himself offered one allegorical interpretation of the parable in the later verses 19-23, I have always been fascinated that parables can be understood in other, non-standard ways too. In fact, as you probably have figured out by now from my preaching and occasional columns here, I love the less-obvious meanings that God’s unique, Biblical word conveys.
So let’s look at that parable. Consider the seed sown in the parable (verses 4-8) to be God’s offer of salvation, which St. Matthew’s community now knew was offered first to the Chosen People of Israel but now was possible only through faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, the seed is not just the faith planted within an individual believer’s heart, endangered by his or her sin, weakness and worldly distractions (see verses 19-22). Salvation is offered to whole peoples, and there it is thwarted by social ills as well.
One of St. Matthew’s reasons for remembering this parable of the Lord was to explain why some – in fact, most – whom Jesus encountered refused to heed His words and embrace His proclamation of the kingdom of God. The parable helps illumine the mystery of why very few first century Jews embraced Christianity. As a group, Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries were afflicted by evil (verse 19), by ignorance of things they ought to know about (verses 20-21), and by worldly concerns and a desire for wealth (verse 22). The explanation of rejection of Jesus’ teaching already is found in the parable itself: a contrast is deliberately made between those few who heard and acted upon Jesus’ word – the Jews who embraced Christianity and became part of St. Matthew’s community – and the vast majority who did not.
This reveals a perspective and a message that are still pertinent to us today, to us Catholics who increasingly are aware that we have moved beyond our secular contemporaries. We hear Christ’s word; they more-and-more do not. We produce the fruit of charity and tolerance and outreach to others; they increasingly refuse to help those in need and rather than show toleration impose their views on those who think differently than they do. We try to help everyone, even at great cost; they ignore and banish from their lives those who just inconvenience them.
In the end, the distinction becomes increasingly clear: the ideal disciple, both in St. Matthew’s day as well as our own, is the one who “produces fruit” (verses 8 and 23), whereas the others fail to produce anything of lasting value. Everyone has a chance to hear the word of the Lord and put it into practice, but sadly the vast majority – including so many for whom we care deeply despite their increasing estrangement from us – do not. In short, the parable not only applies “within” the Church, it also sheds light on situations of increasing tension in the world, especially between the Church and the world which thinks it has left us behind.
Yours in the Lord Jesus,
Very Rev. Paul D. Counce
