Isaiah 55:10-11/ Romans 8:18-23/ Matthew 13:1-23
It is often said that a picture paints a thousand words. But words can never say it all, because if words can say it all, then there is no need to paint anything at all.
But as much as a picture paints a thousand words, yet a few words can also change the story of the picture.
The great Chinese philosopher, Confucius, was quoted as saying: Without knowing the power of words, it is impossible to know anything at all.
And as much as words can tell a story, words can also change the story.
There is a story of an old farmer who wanted to plough his field to grow crops, but his son who would have helped him was in jail.
So he wrote to his son to lament: I am helpless this year because you are not here to plough the field, so I can’t grow any crops.
A couple of days later, the old farmer was surprised to receive a post-card from his son and it read: Papa, please don’t dig the field. I have buried my weapons there.
Then the next morning, a group of policemen can along with tractors and dug up the whole field but no weapons were found.
The old farmer was confused and wrote back to his son and told him what had happened.
A couple of days later, he got a reply from his son: Papa, now you can go ahead to plant your crops.
This sounds like an incredible story. Yet as much as it sounds incredible, there is an underlying truth in it.
And the truth is that words have the power to paint a picture and to create a story.
Yes, words can make something happen, and cause a reaction.
The parable that Jesus told in the gospel also sounds rather incredible.
Any sensible sower would sow the seeds on fertile soil. He would sow the seeds where they will produce a harvest.
But the sower in the parable seemed to be a rather careless sower.
Because some seeds fells on the edge of the path and were eaten up by birds.
Some fell on patches of rock and others fell among thorns. That is futile sowing, not fertile sowing.
But of course some fell on rich soil and produced their crops, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
And Jesus ended off this astonishing parable with this statement: Listen, anyone who has ears.
And even as we listen, we may be wondering if that sower was wasting his time and effort and the seeds.
Why sow seeds that will end up as bird food? Why sow seeds that won’t germinate or that will eventually die?
But the lesson in life that we must keep learning is that nothing is wasted, because every action has a reaction.
The reaction may be delayed, may be obstructed by resistance and opposition, but nonetheless there will be a reaction.
One profound aspect of this action and reaction is in the usage of words.
Words are not cheap, neither are they ineffective. If anything, they are packed with the power to ignite an explosion.
And more so with God’s Word. As we heard in the 1st reading, God’s Word does not return to Him empty without carrying out His will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.
Yes, God speaks and we seem to have some difficulty hearing Him.
By and large, we are practicing Catholics. If practice makes perfect, then are we anywhere near perfect?
We come for Mass every week, we hear three scripture readings, but is there anything happening in us?
We may resonate with this story of a man who said to his wife: I am going to stop going for Mass! I listen to the readings, I hear the priests preach, but I can’t remember anything. It is doing me no good. So I am going to stop going for Mass.
The wife thought for a while and replied: Then I am going to stop cooking for you! Because you can’t remember what you ate yesterday, you are getting fat and it’s not doing you any good. So I am going to stop cooking for you.
Maybe that is also the story of our lives. We don’t think that anything is happening to us, even as we try to listen.
But God will not stop speaking. A picture may paint a thousand words, but a few words will change the story of the picture.
More so when it is God’s Word. It will never return to Him empty without carrying out His will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.
All we need is to keep listening, and God will change the story of our lives.
It may sound incredible, but that is the truth of the power of God’s Word.
We have the ears, so may we listen to God’s Word and produce a harvest.