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He said: “Behold, the sower is ready to sow. While he was planting, some of the grain fell onto the road, and the birds came and devoured him. Others fell on rocks where there was little soil. They sprouted quickly because they did not have a deeper layer of earth. When the sun came up, the seedlings wilted and wilted, and wilted. Others fell among the thorns. The thorns grew and plucked them. And some fell on good ground, and bore fruit, some a hundred times, others sixty, and others thirty. He who has an ear, let him hear. (Mountain 13.1-9)
Road, rock, thorns and good terrain.
The Gospel of the sower and the destiny of the seed (Matthew 13: 1-23) is a great opportunity to analyze the path of the Christian faith in Lithuania. 633 years ago (1387) Lithuania accepted baptism, and Christianity gradually took root. In the 20th century, it experienced great trials when atheistic communism attempted to completely destroy the Church.
Thirty years ago (1990) we restored independence and in 1990 June 14 The Lithuanian sacrifice of sacrifice was signed in The Act of the Heart of Jesus, which symbolically confirms the consensus of Church and State on the Christian orientation of Lithuania.
Religion has been taught in schools since then, and many students choose these lessons (about 51 percent). Universities, gyms, the military, hospitals have chaplains. The conditions for the growth of faith are very good.
In reality, however, we are seeing unfortunate results.
In reality, however, we are seeing unfortunate results. The number of Catholics who practice regularly is quite modest, and the number of Mass participants every Sunday is less than 10 percent; in especially young churches and little men. What determines this situation?
Jesus’ account of the sower and the fate of the seed recorded in the Gospel provides the answer. The sower is God Himself, and the seed is the word of the gospel, which is poured out into the hearts of men. Jesus rightly emphasized why the proclamation of the word of God does not always bear the expected fruit. Even the seed sown by the best sower does not always fall on good soil: one part falls into a roadside ditch, another falls into a field of thorns, and a third falls into a rock.
The dirt-filled ditch symbolizes the human heart, where sin reigns. As long as man values sin more than God, the word of the gospel does not take root or take root.
The seed that falls on the rock is also condemned to death. The rock symbolizes human instability and the tendency to adapt to the situation and fashion of the time. During the Soviet era, people adapted to the ideology carried by the occupiers and withdrew from the Church so as not to experience possible inconvenience.
Today, people are raped by a secular culture whose idols are money, career, sex, and heady entertainment. Man tends to choose the easy way, which is why the word of the Gospel seems too difficult for him, and the temptation to reject it is often not resisted.
Man tends to choose the easy way, so the gospel word seems too difficult for him.
There is no better fate than a seed that has fallen into a thorn bush. The thorns symbolize everyday concerns, especially focus on the material plane. By following this path, a person not only forgets his religious duties, but often even jumps with conscience. We constantly hear stories of people who dishonestly seek to get rich. Children, seeing that parents value wealth more than God, are unlikely to become believers.
The good land that produces abundant crops is the heart of man, open to goodness, truth and love. These are people who prioritize spiritual values over wealth or pleasure. These people do not question what to choose, even during severe tests. When Lithuania was occupied in 1945, some compatriots went to serve the occupants to guarantee safety, while others, at the risk of losing a lot, did not change their love for the Fatherland into a more complete bite; some of them sacrificed their freedom for the Homeland, some even their lives.
It is not scientific progress that separates people from God, but many more earthly causes. But human pride is inventive and finds arguments to justify its distance from God. The sins of the priests are only one of the most used arguments for excuses.
What is the floor of our hearts?
The Word of God this Sunday invites each one of us to examine the soil of our hearts and to eliminate from ourselves all the things that can prevent the word of the Gospel from producing abundant fruits.
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