4th Sunday in Luke - Holy Fathers of 7th Ecumenical Council 10/17/04        

Today's Gospel Lesson told us very fundamentally about the Parable of the sower.            After explaining the Parable, the Lord concludes with the following words: "He who has ears, let him hear!" The truth remains, that by hearing and then making the decision to follow the teachings of the Lord, our heart opens widely to receive the full benefits of the Divine Light. The Light, which will then guide us on the road to spiritual fulfillment and complete happiness.

The teachings of the Lord, and the means by which we are able to approach, and to be in real communication with God are always at our disposal. It is a decision, that is strictly up to each individual.

But, why is it, that so many have such a lack of interest to even hear of the word of God? Also, why is it, that some do listen, but so readily forget, so as to be the same, as them never having heard the word of God. Answers to these questions are given in the Parable of the Sower, which is our subject matter this morning.

I don't think, that generally we would disagree, that from the most ancient times, people's greatest problem is their own self? So many wise men down through the ages attempted to give answers regarding humans and their problems, and as a result they came forth with as many answers.

But, when the fulness of time came, as the Bible states, -- like the dawn of a promising bright new day, came the Lord to teach and guide people in the ways of God, and insure them their salvation. He spoke to people about their destiny, and their possible transformation in such a manner, that even his enemies openly admitted, that they never did hear any man speak as did this Man!

The Lord constantly preached to the people and emphasized that which applies to all of us: "whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!" All people have ears, but yet, all people do not listen.

All people have eyes, ---yet, they do not see. All people have hearts, but not all are moved. These facts, our Lord so beautifully taught in the Parable of the sower, so that those who were listening could easily understand the teachings, because they all had their farms and gardens.

He commenced His teaching by saying, that a sower went out into his field to sow his seeds. Specifically, He mentioned only four seeds, and that of the four seeds, only one rooted and grew, so that it multiplied to bring forth an abundant yield.   But, why is it, that the other three, which were equally good seeds did not yield fruit? Was it that the sower was careless in the planting? Or, could we surmise that the seeds were not good?

The Lord does not make any suppositions. He stated, that both the sower and the seeds were good and proper, but, that the land in which the seeds fell was not good. What type of soil was it?

The first seed fell near the roadside, which was hard pressed by the traversing of people and animals, and as a result, a bird came by and devoured the seed. This type of soil is representative of the people, who choose to live remotely from God, and who have permitted their conscience to be nullified, so as to become hardened and dispassionate. God's voice within them, that is their conscience, no longer gives them any pangs of guilt, because their sinful life has driven them in a direction totally opposite from God.

The second seed fell in an area which had many stones.            In the beginning this seed commenced to sprout, but very soon afterwards, the small plant died because of the lack of moisture.

In this category are the people, who readily accept the word of God, and indeed are very enthusiastic, but soon after, this enthusiasm wanes. This happens, only because they do not make an effort to cultivate their spiritual counterpart, -- their soul, -- to nurture it with the works of Christian love.

The third seed fell in what appeared to be fertile ground, but the area was full of small weeds. The seed soon blossomed, and the plant was getting quite large, but the surrounding weeds outgrew it, and very soon the good plant was choked by the weeds.

In this category we could place so many Christians, who consciously or not, do wish to be loyal in serving God, but at the same time they permit the weeds of sin to root in their hearts; -- weeds, which are the insatiable desire to amass worldly things, -- the struggle to be recognized above others, -- the constant seeking of glory, -- the self gratification, that intellectually they are above all others, -- the perpetual competition to outdo others, -- and so many other weeds in life, which virtually choke the plant of true happiness, because these, will not permit the word of God to germinate in their life and bring forth the harvest of spiritual fruits.

Fortunately though for the world and humanity, the fourth seed fell in rich fertile soil, and gave forth fruits one hundredfold. This is the seed which fell into fertile ground, that is, Christian hearts, which not only heard the word of God, but put these teachings into practice, because religion is really a way of life and living. Woe to this world, if it did not have this fertile Christian soil!.

In this category, we primarily have the lengthy list of our Saints, whom we venerate from the time of the Holy Apostles down to the present days. The Saints, known and unknown, were genuine followers of our Lord, who received the Light from the Lord, and in turn reflected this Light on all who were near them.

These Gems of Christianity, who gave forth one hundredfold from the single seed they received from the Lord, have often suffered from the many trials and tribulations of life, but they stood steadfastly near the Lord, and as the Evangelist St. Luke stated in today's Gospel, they bring forth their fruit with admirable patience.