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St Nicholas is now in the Care of Fr Christo (Christopher) Roberts until a permanent Priest is selected.
Prayer for the Vacancy of the Parish Please Lord, call to this your church and ours a true shepherd, a minister of Christ; and make us, with the priest, a church joyful in worship and united in witness, working, caring, praising, loving to the glory of your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord
Dear Friends,
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today’s gospel is a parable, a story, a pithy little story, so typical of the teaching of Jesus. What is typical is that this parable has an extended explanation. Matthew does this occasionally.
The parable seems to be about the Sower and the seed. The explanation afterward seems mostly to be about the quality of the soil Jesus spoke of according to the agricultural customs of his day. In those days, seed was scattered first and then it was ploughed into the ground. In this parable the seed fell on four different types of soil. The wayside was the path where people walked, and nothing could grow because the ground was too hard. Stony places were where the soil was thin, lying upon a rocky shelf. On this ground the seed springs up quickly because of the warmth of the soil, but the seed is unable to take root because of the rocky shelf. Among thorns describes soil that is fertile – perhaps too fertile.
Good ground describes soil that is both fertile and weed free. A good productive crop grows in the good ground. This was not the call for all to listen. Rather it was a call for those who were spiritually sensitive to take special note. When we describe the mixed progress of the gospel message, the parable of the Sower compels the listener to ask, “What kind of soil am I?
How can I prepare my heart and mind to be the right kind of soil”. This parable invites action so that we would receive the Word of God to full benefit. May the good Lord enable us to receive the word of God and be doers of the word
Shalom
Fr. Christo