Isaiah 55:10-11 / Romans 8:18-23 / Matthew 13:1-23
One of the setbacks in life that can be difficult to overcome is failure.
Failure puts a sudden stop and shatters our dreams of success and achievement.
Failure breaks our confidence and creates fears in our hearts.
Failure can even shake our faith in God, especially when we have prayed for success or for a positive outcome.
We certainly don't like to fail, or to be a loser.
We want to achieve and to succeed in life, and better still, if we can do it at the first attempt.
And putting in the faith aspect, we will also pray for God's blessings to succeed in whatever we do.
But failure is something that we must face in life.
And like the saying goes: Whatever that can fail, will fail.
By the very thought that there is a possibility of failure, means that it can happen.
For example, going for a driving test. Not many people will pass at the first attempt, and so we must be prepared to retake.
We may be hoping for a promotion, but somehow we fail to get it. So, better to be prepared for that.
But as the proverb says: Failure is the mother of success.
So, sometimes we win, sometimes we learn. And often, we learn more from our failures than from our success.
In the gospel parable, the sower seems to be a rather careless. Because he sows the seeds all over the place.
Some seeds fall on the edge of the path, some seeds fall on rocky soil, and some seeds fall among thorns.
And some seeds fall on rich soil and that produced a harvest.
In terms of productivity and efficiency, that sower is a failure. In terms of a competition, he is a loser. In an assessment, he is careless and not competent in the job.
So, what is the gospel parable telling us? What is Jesus saying to us?
One reflection is that the parable points at the spiritual condition of our heart.
There are times we listen to the Word of God, and it just bounces off our heart.
Sometimes we hear but we don't really listen. Sometimes we listen, but we don't move into action.
But there are times we get an inspiration, and we embark on a mission.
But in the 1st reading, the Lord says this: The Word that goes from My mouth does not return to Me empty, without carrying out My will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.
The Word of God is spoken to the Church and also proclaimed by the Church.
The core and the strength of the Church lies in worship and prayer.
It is in worship and in prayer that we hear the Word of God.
How we listen to it depends on the spiritual condition of our hearts.
But God's Word will not fail in us. It will bear fruit.
So, as we listen to the Word of God, let us keep faith in prayer that God will reveal His plan for us.
The seeds eaten by the birds may land up at the rooftops, and God's word will be proclaimed there.
Seeds that don't germinate on the rocky soil and among the thorns, will be preparing the ground for the next sowing.
With God there is no failure, we just have to persevere.
In God there is no ending, we just have to keep praying and believing.