Reflection for 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The late Fred Hermann used to begin his speeches by asking his audiences, “Who was Jim Thorpe’s coach? Who was Albert Einstein’s arithmetic teacher in the second grade? Who was Van Cliburn’s first piano teacher? Who was Billy Graham’s religion teacher in junior high?” You can see what he was getting at with his questions. Who planted the seeds of future greatness? How small the beginnings, how great the outcomes. When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, he remarked, “So this is the little lady who started the big war.”

And here’s where the Gospel hits home. What are we planting in our children, our friends, our co-workers? What “big war” or great outcome are we seeding? A number of years ago, some reporters were interviewing Russian President Boris Yeltsin, asking him what gave him the courage to stand firm during the fall of communism in the former USSR. Interestingly, he credited the electrician from Poland, Lech Walesa, who started the downfall of communism there. When Walesa was interviewed and asked what inspired him, he said it was the civil rights movement in the US led by Martin Luther King. When Martin Luther King was interviewed and asked what inspired him, he said it was the courage of one woman, Rosa Parks, who refused to move to the back of the bus. Is it too much of a stretch to say that a brave little woman in the South brought about the downfall of communism in Russia? Seeds are like that. And that is the lesson for us. How valuable are the little things we do and the people we influence.

But it’s not always that way. In the parable the sower tosses the seed wildly, helter- skelter, all over the place. It falls on exposed soil, shallow rocky soil, thorn-choked soil and, almost by accident, on rich soil. And even there the yield- 30, 60, 100 fold - is uneven to say the least. Life is like that sometimes, isn’t it? So much effort; so little results; so much spent energy, so little return. Jesus must have felt the same way at times. Great crowds followed him but only a few joined him. Jesus even preaches wasteful sowing: you know, the nonsense about a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to search for one easily replaced lamb; the Samaritan who gives his time and money to a stranger. And then there is the terrible waste of his own life on the cross, right after a woman had wasted precious perfume in anointing his feet.

In our own ways, we can, at times, resonate with Jesus and the sower. We sow a perfect wedding and sprout divorce. We scatter the seeds of our parenting and the birds of drugs and a secular media come and peck away daily at our efforts. We plant an honest day’s work and are downsized. We cultivate decency and virtue and the so-called lifestyles touted by some celebrities choke our hopes for those dearest to us. We sow seeds of a firm faith and wind up with non-practicing children. We nurture liberty and produce license. We are passionate about fairness and justice and look around to see the haves and the have-nots and tyranny and crime. Like the sower in Jesus’ story, we have carefully and liberally sown the seeds of our lives. But so often we find that the weeds have taken over. Coronavirus and racism seem to be winning. How do we handle the disappointment?

We Christians know that we, like our master, are a people who must do our best, try our hardest, live in hope, and keep God alive in the world because we believe that somehow, someday, we can and will make a difference. Many of us will, in fact, see the wonderful outcome of our sowing in our children, friends, or those whose lives we touch. Someday, we are assured, there will be a harvest. At that time God will make all things right and new because of the seeds we have sown. Therefore, we are part of God’s plan.

Who was Einstein’s second grade arithmetic teacher? Who was Van Cliburn’s piano teacher? I don’t know, but we’re all eternally grateful. Who seeded you, made you what you are, put value, meaning and grace into your life? I don’t know, but it shows by your presence at Mass, either at church or online. You might want to make a mental list of those people and pray for them with a prayer of thanks. Whom are you seeding, quietly and effectively raising up caring, sensitive and open-hearted people? Are you someone who may be the person who gives someone else the inspiration to do great things? Only you know the answer to that, as you surely know that, if you fail, there simply will be no crop. I remember a teacher who once said to me, “A good teacher has got to be in love with the process of planting the seed, but cannot be around for the harvest.” That is the lesson for today. Be in love with the sowing. Leave the rest to God.

If you have a brief faith reflection on today’s reading that you would like to share, please send it to me at deaconruss@holyspiritunoh.org.