“Tom, be patient with your body.” This was the advice given to me by the pastor of the parish where I was assigned after ordination. I had a case of the flu that was not improving, but I continued working. Maybe the elderly pastor had to be patient with his body, I thought, but not me. I was strong. I was young, I was not going to slow down and let what I considered to be just a cold keep me from my parish responsibilities.

 

Over the years, I've often thought of that guidance from my first pastor. The older I get, the more I appreciate, and follow, the wisdom of his advice that I dismissed so easily when I was young. When you are sick, you need to stop and let your body heal.

 

Words that we ignore can be the ones that we most need to hear and follow. This conclusion relates to this Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 13:1-23).

 

There Jesus tells a parable about a farmer who sows seed in all sorts of places. Some seed ends up on a pathway, some on rocky ground, some among thorns, and some on good ground.

 

We can understand this seed as referring to the word of God that we are to spread as freely and indiscriminately as the farmer sows his seed.

 

However, when Jesus explains the parable, he refers to the seed not as the word of God, but rather as people and their response to the word of God.

 

Jesus says the seed sown on the path are people who hear the word but do not understand it.

 

The seed sown on rocky ground are those who quickly accept the word but do not let it take root in their lives.

 

The seed sown among thorns are those who allow worldly concerns and wealth to overcome the power of the word.

 

The seed sown on good soil are the people who hear the word, understand it, take it to heart, and bear fruit!

 

However, rather than seeing the parable as explaining how different people react to the word, we can understand the parable as referring to ways in which we respond to the word of God at different times in our lives.

 

There are occasions when the word of God touches our hearts and gives us comfort, moments when a scripture passage that we have heard before helps us make sense out of our lives, certain Sundays when we think a Gospel read at Mass was meant just for us, and instances when the words of Jesus bring light and hope to our lives. And there are times when we can ignore these very same words of God, see them as unrelated to our lives, or twist their meaning to suit ourselves.

 

How we hear and respond to the word depends upon what is occurring in our lives, our willingness to listen to what God is saying, and our openness to the Holy Spirit.

 

Just as it took time for me to appreciate the advice given to me by my first pastor, so it takes time and wisdom for us to fully appreciate the word of God that has been sown in our lives. Be patient with the word!

 

© 2026 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski