Posted on 09/18/2026 10:42:45 PM PDT by fidelis
When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable. “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold.” Luke 8:4–8
God always takes the initiative in our lives. We do not need to persuade Him to care for us or to extend His grace—He already does. Our relationship with Him is one of response: He sows, and we are called to receive. We say “Yes” to Him, allowing His will to take root in our lives. At the heart of His divine will is the call to hear and embrace His Word.
Today’s Gospel presents one of Jesus’ most familiar parables, rich in meaning and imagery for prayer. God is the Divine Sower, and the seed is His Word. That Word is not merely a message or set of teachings—it is the Person of Christ Himself, the Incarnate Word of God. This is one of the great mysteries of our faith. Christ is sown into the hearts of the faithful. We are not invited to solve this mystery but to receive it, enter it, ponder it, and allow it to transform us.
To enter more deeply into this mystery, imagine God the Father sowing the seed of His Son into the soil of your soul. Once we understand that Christ Himself is the Divine Seed, it becomes clear that Christianity is not merely about following a moral code or ethical system. Rather, it is about being interiorly transformed by Christ’s living presence. He is planted in us by grace, takes root in our souls, and grows, bearing spiritual fruit.
This parable also challenges us to examine the condition of our hearts. Are we hardened like the path, distracted like the rocky ground, or choked by worldly concerns like the soil filled with thorns? Or are we striving to be rich, tilled soil—open, receptive, and ready to nurture the life of Christ within?
If we extend the parable further and consider the entire field, it is consoling and inspiring to recognize the countless other souls with rich soil who also receive the living Word of God and in whom He grows and bears fruit. As members of the Body of Christ, we are not alone. We are part of a vast field, tilled and watered by divine grace.
Reflect today on the high ideals set forth in the Parable of the Sower.
Move from concept to reality. This parable is not only meant to inspire, it is meant to prompt action. First, open your heart to Christ the Word through daily prayer, participation in the Sacraments, and works of charity. Then, become a co-worker with Christ. In what ways can you assist the Divine Sower? To whom can you be an instrument of the Word of God? Be receptive to His grace and resolute in your mission, that the Field of God’s Kingdom may continue to grow and flourish.
My Divine Sower and Eternal Word, You urgently desire that all people come to know You by forming hearts of fertile soil, receptive to Your saving Word. Please till the soil of my heart. Remove every weed of sin, every rock of resistance, and every thorn of worldly care. Enrich me with the grace I need so that Your Word may take deep root and bear abundant fruit. Make me also an instrument of Your divine work, sowing the seeds of Your Word in the hearts of others. Through me, may the mission of the Church flourish and Your Kingdom be extended to the ends of the earth. Jesus, I trust in You.
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The Month of September is Dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows
“And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.’” (Luke 2:33-35)
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of September, 2026:
For the care of water
Let us pray for a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone may have equal access to it.
Today’s First Reading
From: 1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-49
The Manner of the Resurrection of the Dead
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[35] But some one will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" [36] You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. [37] And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
[42] So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. [43] It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. [44] It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. [45] Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [46] But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. [47] The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. [48] As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. [49] Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. [50] I tell you this, bretheren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
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35-38. Now that he has shown that the dead will rise, St Paul goes on to deal with what form this resurrection will take. He postulates certain questions (v. 35) and replies to them using comparisons taken from the vegetable, animal and mineral worlds, to help explain what this resurrection involves (vv. 36-41). He goes on to describe the qualities of the risen body (vv. 42-44), referring in particular to one of those qualities, its spiritual nature or "subtility" (vv. 44-50). He then describes the circumstances in which the general resurrection will take place (vv. 51-53), and he ends with a hymn of joy and thanksgiving for all these wonders of God (vv. 54-58).
36-41. The Apostle uses the analogy of a seed to explain what resurrection involves: just as a seed has to corrupt in order to yield new life, the body has to die in order to be raised up. In the process of becoming a new plant the seed takes on a new form: the plant is something distinct from the original seed; similarly, risen bodies will be endowed with new qualities which they did not have during their mortal life (cf. note on vv. 42-44).
By referring to the difference in the flesh of different animals and to the way that one star shines differently from another, St Paul is trying to explain that risen bodies are also differentiated, the differences being a function of charity (cf. "St Pius V Catechism", I, 12, 13).
42-44. These verses are the basis of tile Church's teaching about the qualities of glorified bodies-impassibility or incorruptibility, glory or brightness, power or agility, subtility or spirituality. This is what the "St Pius V Catechism" has to say on the subject: "The bodies of the risen saints will be distinguished by certain transcendent endowments, which will ennoble them far beyond their former condition. Among these endowments four are specially mentioned by the Fathers, which they infer from the doctrine of St Paul and which are called 'gifts'.
"The first endowment or gift is impassibility, which shall place them beyond the reach of suffering anything disagreeable or of being affected by pain or inconvenience of any sort [...]. 'What is sown' says the Apostle, 'is perishable, what is raised is imperishable' (1 Cor 15:42) [...]. The next quality is brightness, by which the bodies of the saints shall shine like the sun [...]. This quality the Apostle sometimes calls "glory". [...] This brightness is a sort of radiance reflected on the body from the supreme happiness of the soul. It is a participation in that bliss which the soul enjoys, just as the soul itself is rendered happy by a participation in the happiness of God. Unlike the gift of impassibility, this quality is not common to all in the same degree. All the bodies of the saints will be equally impassible; but the brightness of all will not be the same, for, according to the Apostle, 'there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory' (1 Cor 15:41-42).
"To the preceding quality is united that which is called agility, by which the body will be freed from the heaviness that now presses it down, and will take on a capability of moving with the utmost ease and swiftness, wherever the soul pleases [...]. Hence these words of the Apostle: 'It is sown in weakness, it is raised in glory' (I Cor 15:43). Another quality is that of subtility, which subjects the body to the dominion of the soul, so that the body shall be subject to the soul and ever ready to follow her desires. This quality we learn from these words of the Apostle: 'It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Cor 15:44)" (I, 12, 13).
The bodies of the reprobate do not have these qualities proper to glorified bodies (cf. "St Pius X Catechism", 246).
44-50. The Apostle develops what he has said about those who rise having spiritual bodies--which might seem to be a self-contradictory notion. Through descent from Adam, whose body was formed from the dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7), men receive an earthly animal body which is destined to perish; Christ, the new Adam, when he comes again will give his own a heavenly body, perfect and immortal: "It is called a spiritual body," St Augustine says, "not because it has become a spirit but because it is in such a way subject to the spirit, to fit it for its heavenly abode, that every kind of earthly weakness and imperfection is changed into a heavenly permanence ("De Fide Et Symbolo", chap. VI).
Even in this present life the Christian should strive to reflect this image of "the man of heaven", by reproducing in himself the life of Christ: having died to sin through Baptism he has already been raised with Christ to a new life (cf. Col 3:1-4). Christ's resurrection, St Thomas Aquinas explains, "is an exemplary cause with regard to the resurrection of souls, because even in our souls we must be conformed with the risen Christ, the Apostle says (Rom 6:4-11): 'Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, that we too might walk in newness of life [...]. Christ being raised from the dead shall never die again [...] so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin', so that you 'might live with him' (1 Thess 5:10)" ("Summa Theologiae", III, q. 56, a. 2).
45. Commenting on this verse, St John of Avila explains that "God created the first man and blew into his face, he gave him the breath of life, and he became a living being. "Et factus est primus Adam in animam viventem, novissimus Adam in spiritum vivificantem" (1 Cor 15:45). The second Adam was made, Jesus Christ, and not only was he given and did he have life for himself like the first Adam, but he had it for many others. Christ has a living spirit, a life-giving spirit which raises up those of us who desire to live. Let us go to Christ, let us seek Christ, who has the breath of life. No matter how evil you be, how lost, how disorientated, if you go to him, if you seek him, he will make you well, he will win you over and set you right and heal you" ("Sermon on Pentecost Sunday").
From: Luke 8:4-15
Parable of the Sower. The Meaning of the Parables
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[4] And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to Him (Jesus), He said in a parable: [5] "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. [6] And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. [7] And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. [8] And some feel into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." As He said this, He called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
[9] And when His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, [10] He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. [11] Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [12] The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. [13] And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. [14] And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. [15] And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience."
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Commentary:
4-8. Our Lord explains this parable in verses 11-15. The seed is Jesus Himself and His preaching; and the different kinds of ground it falls on reflect people's different attitudes to Jesus and His teaching. Our Lord sows the life of grace in souls through the preaching of the Church and through an endless flow of actual graces.
10-12. Jesus uses parables to teach people the mysteries of the supernatural life and thereby lead them to salvation. However, He foresaw that, due to the bad dispositions of some of His listeners, these parables would lead them to harden their hearts and to reject grace. For a fuller explanation of the purpose of parables see the notes on Matthew 13:10-13 and Mark 4:11-12.
12. Some people are so immersed in a life of sin that they are the patch on which falls the seed "which suffers from two kinds of hazard: it is trodden on by wayfarers and snatched by birds. The path, therefore, is the heart, which is trodden on by the frequent traffic of evil thoughts, and cannot take in the seed and let it germinate because it is so dried up" (St. Bede, "In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, in loc."). Souls hardened by sin can become good soil and bear fruit through sincere repentance and penance. We should note the effort the devil makes to prevent souls from being converted.
13. "Many people are pleased by what they hear, and they resolve to do good; but as soon as they experience difficulties they give up the good words they started. Stony ground has not enough soil, which is why the shoots fail to produce fruit. There are many who, when they hear greed criticized, do conceive a loathing for it and extol the scorning of it; but as soon as the soul sees something else that it desires, it forgets what it previously promised. There are also others who when they hear talk against impurity not only desire not to be stained by the filth of the flesh but are even ashamed of the stains that they already bear; but as soon as bodily beauty presents itself to their eyes, their heart is so drawn by desires that it is as if they had done or decided to do nothing against these desires, and they act in a manner deserving condemnation and in a way which they themselves previously condemned when they reflected on their behavior. Very often we feel compunction for our faults and yet we go back and commit them even after bemoaning them" (St. Gregory the Great, "In Evangelia Homiliae", 15).
14. This is the case of people who after receiving the divine seed, the Christian calling, and having stayed on the right path for some time, begin to give up the struggle. These souls run the risk of developing a distaste for the things of God and of taking the easy, and wrong, way of seeking compensations suggested to them by their disordered ambition for power and their desire for material wealth and a comfortable life involving no suffering.
A person in this situation begins to be lukewarm and tries to serve two masters: "It is wrong to have two candles lighted--one to St. Michael and another to the devil. We must snuff out the devil's candle; we must spend our lives completely in the service of the Lord. If our desire for holiness is sincere, if we are docile enough to place ourselves in God's hands, everything will go well. For He is always ready to give us His grace" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 59).
15. Jesus tells us that the good soil has three features--listening to God's demands with the good disposition of a generous heart; striving to ensure that one does not water down these demands as time goes by; and, finally, beginning and beginning again and not being disheartened if the fruit is slow to appear. "You cannot `rise'. It's not surprising: that fall!
"Persevere and you will `rise'. Remember what a spiritual writer has said: your poor soul is like a bird whose wings are caked with mud.
"Suns of heaven are needed and personal efforts, small and constant, to shake off those inclinations, those vain fancies, that depression: that mud clinging to your wings.
"And you will see yourself free. If you persevere, you will `rise'" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 991).
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