Back in my old parish in Pennsylvania, I used to be part of a ministry that would go door to door in neighborhoods, trying to spread the Word. Our primary goal was to touch base with Catholics who had fallen away from the faith, in the hopes that a heartfelt invitation from the Church would serve as the catalyst to bring them back into the fold. It was a decent-sized committee – even the aged pastor would accompany us at times – and we talked to many people and gave many care packages with information about the church. One of the most bemused questions/comments we routinely got was, “You’re Catholics? And you’re going door to door?!” Indeed!
What I find most interesting about that time is that I was not the type of person who was likely to knock on doors for Christ. I’m deeply introverted, I had long hair in a ponytail, and I didn’t much care for walking in strange neighborhoods or talking to strange people.
And yet, each time I swallowed my fear and started on Saturday morning, I found myself energized. My smile came naturally, with the best possible attitude to spread the Word, and I always felt like I had the right thing to say, whether nodding sympathetically to someone who was struggling with their faith, rebutting misconceptions about Catholics, or encouraging those who did consider themselves active Catholics but for some reason hadn’t made it to Church lately.
Being part of that ministry was one of the earliest, closest experiences of the Spirit at work within me, and it was one of the more rewarding experiences of my Catholic life. I’m a bit sad that my current parish doesn’t have anything like it.
I was reminded of that experience as I considered today’s readings. Today’s Gospel selection from Matthew tells the Parable of the Sower, who spread his seed far and wide, sometimes to ill effect (landing amid birds, rocky ground, thorns), and other times to rich soil where it produced fruit, “a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
This parable must have been shocking at the time, especially among those of an agricultural bent. Toss your seeds around wherever?! Seeds are expensive; there’s no point in putting seeds where they won’t at least have a chance to do some good! But this is exactly the incongruity that Christ intended. Because the seed represents the good news of Christ, and we are supposed to spread it as far and wide as we can.
But what if I’m not any good at spreading seed? Well, the first reading from Jeremiah makes it abundantly clear: God will take care of you and make to effective. When Jeremiah protested that he didn’t know how to speak and he was too young, God answered, “Say not, ‘I am too young.’ To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak . . . See, I place my words in your mouth! . . . This day I set you . . . to build and to plant.”
Every excuse you have for not spreading the good news, God has taken care of. Do you think you’re too young? Or too inexperienced? Do you think your words will fall on infertile soil, or be futile? The answer to all is the same: Trust in the Lord.
Don’t let our excuses be a paper chain to keep you from doing what you know you must. And like a paper chain, the flimsy excuses can be broken whenever you want, setting you free to do as Christ has commanded. It’s a lesson I learned when I needed to swallow my nervousness and tamp down my self-consciousness as I went door to door to let people know about their local Catholic parish. It’s a realization I still draw on when I speak up amid a group of acquaintances and say, “Actually, I am a Catholic, and we believe . . .”
Let today’s Responsorial Psalm ring in our ears as we think of Christ’s lessons and message of love: “I will sing of your salvation . . . My mouth shall declare your justice, day by day your salvation.” Who knows what fertile ground our words will find?
Today’s readings: Jer 1:1, 4-10; Ps 71:1-2, 3-4A, 5-6AB, 15, and 17; Mt 13:1-9
