It's never too late (unique Coin and smart working: Love)

(Mt 20:1-16)

In the atrium of the temple in Jerusalem, the portal creeper was a symbol of the gifts that the people were called upon to present to God: mutual acceptance, understanding, sharing... for the happiness of all.

Obviously, entering at the beginning of the day (that is, of our existence) into this logic of love is better than entering at the last hour.

Instead: "Is your eye bad because I am good?" [v.19 Greek text].

But is being in communion with God, being in his Vineyard and having had the grace not to lose a single moment of life without his Presence a 'burden-bearing' or vice versa a pleasure?

But what a naive question... of course, the issues at stake are these and they are profound, but also others. So let us ask ourselves: in what we do, how much does external theatre count? So much?

The believers of the 'first hour' feel deeply offended, because underneath they identify 'pleasure' or 'advantage' with what they have always forcibly denied themselves. Perhaps out of a matter of social respectability, or out of a misunderstood sense of God; either way, artificially.

They think of 'enjoying life' in the same way as pagans! Work is indeed ... 'endured' [v.12: note the verb!].

Their unspoken sentiments are equally ungodly... but the first of the class remain more adept than others at exploiting the screen of long-certified membership to mask themselves behind the zeal of renunciations, works, sweats, procedures, prescriptions, performances, and better performances.

Well, God has no wage labourers: only children; no underlings. 

None of us are negligible for 'inefficiency' - based on the old idea of proven belonging: the inhuman pace, the production volumes, the effort, the performance... the extra overtime...

That of patterns is a blocking effect; linked to meaningless comparisons, stressful, rushed (and overworked) life - all under external influence.

Not in deep synchrony with oneself [vv.6-7: ""Why do you stand here all day idle?" They say to him, "Because no one has taken us for a day. He says to them, 'You also go into the Vineyard'"].

The Father is only interested in personal Happiness and the Joy of Love: the only tasty Fruit; not the heap of external works, not the great volume of the many and many 'fruits' - often unfortunately inedible.

It is the outcome of the new, inverted world.

We are all equally protagonists and leaders, even if to some 'internal' regulars our contribution appears fragmentary, inefficient - and assesses us as not very 'involved' (perhaps in 'customs'); not at all 'regular' - with a grim and presumptuous eye.

The recent experience of smart working during the health crisis has brought out the specific weight of the 'late-comers': people who are less tied to production, less extroverted and less able to lead, but perhaps more thoughtful and profound, more respectful of the preciousness of their own work; less outward-looking or exhibitionist, more collaborative.

The unfavourable has become favourable!

The Gospel of Mt originated from Syro-Palestinian communities, which were beginning to experience pagans and sinners flocking in large numbers and becoming a numerical majority.

All this, to the great scandal of both Pharisaic and Judeo-Christian circles - who were now showing themselves to be opponents of the newcomers.

In short, the veterans were beginning to behave as if they were returning 'Pharisees', bound to the works of the law and the old ethnic-cultural baggage.

This is how the Master treats them - because they stubbornly refused to listen to the tide of people once far away, who were now bringing new things. And [they, without much practice of pious works] opened up to the veterans a path of Exodus, of Liberation from the convictions of the fathers.

The attitude of the outsiders and "intermarriers" who presented themselves at the fraternities' doors was much freer and fiercer than that of the community elders, Judaizers.

Their unencumbered mentality began to provoke jealousy among those who - almost out of religious duty - were used to scrutinising the lives of others with suspicion.

After all, that of the beginners and 'half-breeds' who wanted to begin a journey of love was but a reflection of the superabundant fluidity of the divine Gifts.

'Free' communicated without mistrust or exclusion: not on the basis of previous merits, but freely and by virtue of need alone.

We can experience live today the identical dynamics of confrontation, between new blood relatives on the basis of Faith and the customary ones [more concerned with their fixed places and 'laboriously' won positions of supremacy].

But thanks to the Word (v.15b) we now recognise the latter: by their judgement and manners. Nor do they ever want to let go of a finished past, or their 'new' sophisticated world of fashionable brain hypotheses.When the 'good' God unmasks them, exposing their prejudice, they remain with the slanted, evil eye of false paternalism.

But it is a malicious gaze only for intimidation purposes - for envy and 'lese majesty', not to educate us.

Thus they delude themselves not to be understood and continue to sterilise or pilot, ridiculing Love [also to get us out of the way - to avoid the danger of being overshadowed] by ineptitude, and by the very normal unfolding of life.

Therefore, today's passage remains, after so many centuries, a powerful reminder.

The importance of the work induces the Master not to send his factor (!) whom he unfortunately knows he cannot fully trust.

He himself repeatedly goes out and does not want dirigiste interference in calling the workers personally.

He is the only one who understands: it is never too late!

The teaching is precisely for community leaders, who often do not take on the burden of constantly searching for everyone from home, and adapting themselves to people and events.

Instead, the Father wants a Family (Vineyard) that presents the world with the sweet, sugary fruit of the Feast - the only truly important, non-negotiable principle.

Thus, to the ever morbid top of the class, the Lord continues to do a very educational 'spite'.

Already in life, they must discover that He does not discriminate on the basis of external profitable percentages, or others' negative mental states.

He "pays" everyone without reservation and with a single "currency": His Person. No autopilot is enabled to disturb our breathing.

The soul counts, not the CV or performance.

To internalise and live the message:

In what do you find God's Will incomprehensible, or rather the commercial, gloomy and square mentality (covered with duties, sadness, fatigue and pain) of his investigators?

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

You may remember that when I addressed the crowd in St Peter's Square on the day of my election it came naturally to me to introduce myself as a labourer in the vineyard of the Lord. Well, in today's Gospel (cf. Mt 20: 1-16), Jesus recounted the very same parable of the owner of the vineyard who at different hours of the day hires labourers to work in it. And in the evening he gives them all the same wages, one denarius, provoking protests from those who began work early. That denarius clearly represents eternal life, a gift that God reserves for all. Indeed those who are considered the "last", if they accept, become the "first", whereas the "first" can risk becoming the "last". The first message of this parable is inherent in the very fact that the landowner does not tolerate, as it were, unemployment: he wants everyone to be employed in his vineyard. Actually, being called is already the first reward: to be able to work in the Lord's vineyard, to put oneself at his service, to collaborate in his work, is in itself a priceless recompense that repays every effort. Yet only those who love the Lord and his Kingdom understand this: those who instead work only for the pay will never realize the value of this inestimable treasure. 

[…] I like to emphasize that Matthew lived this experience in the first person (cf. Mt 9: 9). Indeed, before Jesus called him he worked as a tax collector and was therefore seen as a public sinner, excluded from "the Lord's vineyard". But everything changed when Jesus passed by his table, looked at him and said to him: "Follow me". Matthew rose and followed him. From a publican he immediately became a disciple of Christ. From being "last" he found himself "first", thanks to God's logic, which - for our good fortune! - is different from the logic of the world. "My thoughts are not your thoughts", the Lord says, speaking through the mouth of Isaiah, "neither are your ways my ways" (Is 55: 8). St Paul, for whom we are celebrating a special Jubilee Year, also experienced the joy of feeling called by the Lord to work in his vineyard. And what a lot of work he accomplished! Yet, as he himself confessed, it was God's grace which worked in him, that grace which from persecutor of the Church transformed him into an Apostle to the Gentiles, to the point of saying: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" However he immediately added: "If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell" (Phil 1: 21-22). Paul clearly understood that working for the Lord is already a reward on this earth. 

The Virgin Mary […] is the perfect branch of the Lord's vine. In her germinated the blessed fruit of divine love: Jesus, our Saviour. May she help us to respond constantly and joyously to the Lord's call and to find our happiness in toiling for the Kingdom of Heaven.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus, 21 September 2008]

6. Another parable helps us to understand that it is never too late to join the Church. God’s invitation can be extended to a person right up until the very last moment of their life. It is the well-known parable of the labourers in the vineyard: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at daybreak to hire labourers for his vineyard” (Mt 20:1). He then went out several more times at various hours of the day, right up to the last hour. And all were given a wage in which, going beyond the bounds of strict justice, the landowner wished to show all his generous love.
In this regard, one is reminded of the moving episode, recounted by the evangelist Luke, concerning the ‘good thief’ crucified alongside Jesus on Golgotha. To him, the invitation appeared as a merciful act on God’s part, as he said, almost with his last breath: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’. He heard from the lips of the Redeemer-Bridegroom, condemned to death on the cross: ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’ (Lk 23:42–43).
[Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 18 September 1991]

In today’s Gospel reading (cf Mt 20:1-16) there is the parable of the day labourers in the vineyard, which Jesus recounts in order to explain two aspects of the Kingdom of God: the first is that God wants to call everyone to work for his Kingdom; the second is that, in the end, he wants to give everyone the same reward, that is, salvation, eternal life.

The owner of the vineyard who represents God, goes out at dawn and hires a group of workers, agreeing with them on the day’s wages. It was a fair wage. Then he goes out again [several times] later in the day — he goes out five times on that day — until the late afternoon to hire other unemployed labourers whom he sees. At the end of the day, the landowner orders that a denarius be paid to everyone, even to those who had only worked for a few hours. Naturally, the labourers who were hired first complain because they see that they are paid as much as those who worked for fewer hours. The landowner however, reminds them about what had been agreed; if he then wants to be generous with the others, they should not be envious.

In reality, this “injustice” of the owner serves to provoke in those listening to the parable a qualitative leap because here Jesus does not want to speak about the issue of work or of a fair wage, but about the Kingdom of God! And this is the message: there are no unemployed people in the Kingdom of God. Everyone is called to do their part; and there will be a reward from divine justice for everyone in the end — not from human [justice], luckily! —, but the salvation that Jesus Christ acquired for us with his death and Resurrection, a salvation which is not deserved, but donated — salvation is free — thus, “the last will be the first and the first last” (Mt 20:16).

With this parable, Jesus wants to open our hearts to the logic of the Father’s love which is free and generous. It is about allowing oneself to be astonished and fascinated by the “thoughts” and the “ways” of God which, as the Prophet Isaiah recalls, are not our thoughts and not our ways (cf Is 55:8). Human thoughts are often marked by selfishness and personal advantages, and our narrow and contorted paths are not comparable to the wide and straight streets of the Lord. He uses mercy — do not forget this: He uses mercy —, he forgives broadly, is filled with generosity and kindness which he pours forth on each of us. He opens for everyone the boundless territory of his love and his grace, which alone can give the human heart the fullness of joy.

Jesus wants to make us contemplate the gaze of that landowner: the gaze with which he looks upon each of the labourers searching for work and calls them to go to his vineyard. It is a gaze which is filled with attention, kindness. It is a gaze which calls, invites one to get up and begin a journey because he wants life for each of us; he wants a full, committed life, safe from emptiness and inertia. God excludes no one and wants each of us to achieve his or her fullness. This is the love of our God, of our God who is Father.

May Mary Most Holy help us welcome into our lives the logic of love which frees us from the presumption of deserving God’s reward and from the critical judgement of others.

[Pope Francis, Angelus, 24 September 2017]

In the difference between common religiosity and Faith

(Lk 8:4-15)

The parables compare the lived reality and the world of the Spirit:

«And another part fell on the earth the beautiful one, and sprouted it bore fruit a hundredfold» (v.8).

Palestine’ stony terrain and scorching climate did not make it easy for the workers who lived on agriculture.

The lack of rain and the intrusion into the fields of those who wanted to shorten the path, destroyed the plants.

Tiring action and few tangible results.

Despite the enormous difficulties, every year the peasant threw grains with a wide hand, generously - and ploughed, animated by confidence in the inner life force of the seed and in the bounty of nature.

Ploughing was after sowing, to avoid that the soils turned over dried immediately under the powerful heat, and did not allow the grains to take root thanks to a minimum of moisture.

So the sower did not select the different types of ground prematurely.

The Seed already works: the new ‘Kingdom that Comes’ is not glorious, but here and there it takes root and produces - even where you do not expect.

According to the ancient religious mentality it seems a madness, but the divine Farmer does not choose the type of "land", nor discriminates on the basis of the percentage of production - although it would seem easy to predict.

The Sower even accepts that his ‘grain’ fallen on the ground «beautiful», fruits in differently: one hundred, sixty, thirty for one [Mt 13:8.23; Mk 4:8.20; the text of Lk does not speak of percentages].

The term «beautiful» (in the Eastern sense) means the full and fruitful land [the soul and work of the most intimate, even anonymous ones].

The Lord means that a wise commitment to evangelization cannot be measured with fussiness.

His Word remains as a Beginning thrown into the human heart by the One who is neither stingy nor exclusive - but magnanimous.

In this way, the Church, his new People, is a small alternative world to both the Empire and selective religions.

The new Rabbi did not intend to carve out better disciples than others - isolated from the reality of the human family.

He was proposing a new lifestyle, cohabiting.

In short, God does not force the growth of the ‘seed’ in each of us, in an abstract way; He waits patiently.

Even accepts that it is born badly or that it does not arise at all. He knows where to go.

Since overflowingly spreads on all kinds of hearts (even on asphalt), He foresees already that will be accused of being unwise.

But He does not worry about the quantity, nor about the immediate outward fruits of His ‘grain’.

He does not care that the work is "effective in departure"!

Such is the amiable, humanizing and divine (parental) Tolerance that saves. Loveableness that does not kidnap us every moment, to plan.

Rather, all this is to make us understand that He is not a calculating and miserly God, external, tight and biased; but a munificent and conciliatory Father.

Lord of the Kingdom who does not wait first for our little ‘perfections’.

The metaphor that follows the initial parable is intended to emphasize that any lack of result is not to be attributed to the lack of vitality of the Seed, nor to the divine Work, but to man’s freedom; to his condition of limit or incoherence.

Unfortunately, from the earliest generations of believers, the positive Call of Jesus has been reinterpreted somewhat backwards: with moralistic and individualistic overtones (vv.11-15) that have undermined its genuineness.

In this way, the initial proposal of personal Faith became contaminated with the customary purist and fall-back [guilt-ridden] outlook typical of the surrounding philosophies and religions, as well as common thought.

Certain configurations of ecclesial order subsequently normalized the same exceptional power of the Message; so unprecedented. In particular, the new sense of adequacy, confidence and self-esteem that the Son of God intended to communicate to His friends, and to the world of the least.

[Saturday 24th wk. in O.T.  September 19, 2026]

The difference between common religiosity and personal Faith

(Lk 8:4-15)

The stony soil and scorching climate of Palestine did not make life easy for farmers. The scarcity of rain and the intrusion into the fields of those who wanted to shorten their journey destroyed the plants. It was hard work with few tangible results.

Despite the enormous difficulties, every year the farmer sowed his seed generously and ploughed, animated by his faith in the seed's inner vitality and in the munificence of nature.

Ploughing followed sowing, to prevent the turned soil from drying out immediately under the intense heat and preventing the seed from taking root thanks to a minimum of moisture. Therefore, the sower did not select the different types of soil in advance.

The parable (vv. 5-8) that precedes the allegory (vv. 11-15) compares lived reality with the world of the Spirit. The seed is already at work: the new 'Kingdom to Come' is not glorious, but here and there it takes root and produces - even where you least expect it.

According to conventional thinking, this seems crazy, but the divine 'farmer' does not choose the type of 'soil', nor does he discriminate on the basis of its productive potential - which would seem easy to predict.

The Sower even accepts that his 'grain' fallen on 'good' soil (v. 8) will bear fruit in time 'with perseverance' (v. 15). Unlike Mark and Matthew, Luke speaks only of 'fruit a hundredfold' (v. 8).

Jesus means that the work of evangelisation cannot be measured with pedantry. His Word remains as a Seed sown in the human heart by the One who is neither stingy nor exclusive - but magnanimous.

His Church is a small world alternative to both the Empire and immediately selective religions: the Lord has no intention of carving out disciples who are immediately better than others and isolated from the reality of the human family. A new way of life.

God does not force the growth of the 'seed' in each of us, but waits patiently. He also accepts that it may grow badly or not sprout at all.

Since he scatters abundantly on all kinds of hearts [even on the asphalt], he knows that he will be accused of being unwise: he is not concerned with the immediate external fruits (!) of his 'seed' - he does not care whether the work is 'effective from the outset' (!).

But he is interested in making us understand that he is a Father, not the calculating God of ancient beliefs: miserly, superficial, stingy, aloof, prejudiced.

The metaphor that follows the initial parable emphasises that any lack of results is not attributable to the seed's lack of vitality, nor to God's work, but to human freedom; to our limited or inconsistent nature.

God is generous, especially in the age of rebirth from crisis: it is also a time of generous sowing by the Father, the 'farmer' of his seedlings - more adventurous and less respectable than traditionalists.

Obviously, the Word of the Master and Lord warns against anything that could prevent a new genesis - above all because we often wait to mechanically return to old roles and the old system of things, which is habitual, external and dirigiste.

Are we perhaps still too attached to previous desires and economic levels that have now been overwhelmed by events... not accepting the emergence of opposites that we had never experienced or planned for?

We still think we can return to 'everything as it was before'; to the superficiality of a society based on appearances, not rooted in conviction, immediately enthusiastic and unable to look beyond.

Instead, the changing tide is coming so that we can learn to look within, elsewhere and beyond - to focus on our own and others' unique figures, in the conviviality of differences.

It is likely that the knowledge or lifestyle we would like to reaffirm is still linked to old models that are welcome but now inadequate to provide new answers to new questions. And perhaps all this has led us to imitate too much the disqualified having-appearing, instead of the precious being at the centre of our Calling by Name.

It is not impossible that we have allowed ourselves to become accustomed to decision-making nomenclatures or to hastiness due to performance anxiety, which do not take into account the beautiful terrain of character and vocational gift [which would lead to better contact with the unfulfilled energies of our true inclination - nestled among inconsistencies].

Here we are, caught up in concerns about restoring 'business as usual' or 'how we should be'... Despite the fact that the current traumas are clear signs to broaden our awareness, which has been stifled until now (as if by brambles). These contemporary appeals are eloquent calls to launch every side towards the Exodus, to conquer renewed freedoms and territories of the soul, in essence.

All the influence of an empty and formal spirituality that we carry with us still inhibits a good perception of today, and unnerves us, taking away our inner strength. It does not allow us to follow our own impulse in harmony with the inner world - or the same tendencies in listening to the incessant Call of the Gospels, which is still disseminated by non-conformist prophets, to announce the truth and the creation of a new world.

Well, something - or our whole life - could end up confused; more than ever, we may not be going in the right and clear direction: we may not be making ourselves special as the Sower would like - precisely because of the clichés or emotional voids that steal the Seed, or suffocate the plant, or because of the usual presumption that wants to rise to the top immediately and thus prevents us from putting down deep roots.

We will then have to put aside our mental turmoil and unilateral volitional turmoil; leave space and give in to the new current of quality that is carrying us. And surrender to the proposals of the tide of grains that come to guide us beyond the old disputes: to the natural, original energy of Providence, which knows more than we do.

To the Wind of the Spirit that unfolds beyond the 'grains' - where you least expect it - it does not even matter how immediate the results are - but our 'good' harmony (v.8) - which helps to bring us up to speed with the reality of far-sighted combinations. They will reorder everything in a different way: beyond habitual mental systems - and every result will be more prudent, in favour of the peripheries.

Without too much disposition and calculation in the choice of terrain - once pretentiously removed and sanitised upstream - we will realise that the Sower will finally have crumbled many worldly pedestals, not to humiliate anyone, but to give surprises of astonishing fruitfulness, even for the growth of every creed [all denominations].

His is always and everywhere a generous and uniquely creative Action, put in place to regenerate and empower convictions - not to make us repeat the usual actions or liturgies from the manual [or more glamorous ones]. Then resume playing with the performance or narrow confines of approved patterns.

If we want to synchronise ourselves with the movement of the Sower, we must move with Him and like Him towards the poverty of the various soils [existential situations].

A special narrowness - even more acute in times of global emergency - that forces us to 'move', to become itinerant, to scatter everywhere... and not just to reap a hundredfold (vv. 8.15) in the usual protected centre.

Parables and the mystery of blindness: Narration and transmutation

Getting lost, for transformation

(Lk 8:9-10, 18; cf. Mt 13:10-17; Mk 4:10-12, 25)

St Paul expresses the meaning of the 'mystery of blindness' that contrasts with his journey with the famous expression 'thorn in the side': wherever he went, enemies were already waiting for him, as well as unexpected disagreements.

So it is for us too: disastrous events, catastrophes, emergencies, the disintegration of old reassuring certainties - all external and murky; until recently considered permanent.

Perhaps in the course of our existence, we have already realised that misunderstandings have been the best ways to reactivate ourselves and introduce the energies of renewed Life.

These are resources or situations that we might never have imagined would be allies in our own and others' fulfilment.

Erich Fromm says:

'To live means to be born at every moment. Death occurs when we cease to be born. Birth is therefore not an act; it is an uninterrupted process. The purpose of life is to be born fully, but the tragedy is that most of us die before we are truly born'.

Indeed, in a climate of unrest or absurd differences [that force us to regenerate], the most neglected inner virtues sometimes come to the fore.

New energies - seeking space - and external powers. Both malleable; unusual, unimaginable, unorthodox.

But they find solutions, the real way out of our problems; the path to a future that is not simply a reorganisation of the previous situation, or of how we imagined 'things should have been and done'.

Once a cycle is over, we start a new phase; perhaps with greater righteousness and frankness - brighter and more natural, humanising, closer to the 'divine'.

Authentic and engaging contact with our deepest states of being is generated acutely by detachments.

They lead us to a dynamic dialogue with the eternal reserves of transmuting forces that inhabit us and belong to us.

A primordial experience that goes straight to the heart.

Within us, this path 'fishes' for the creative, fluctuating, unprecedented option.

In this way, the Lord transmits and opens his proposal using 'images'.

An arrow of Mystery that goes beyond the fragments of consciousness, culture, procedures, and what is common.

For a knowledge of oneself and of the world that goes beyond that of history and current events; for the active awareness of other contents.Until the turmoil and chaos itself guides the soul and compels it to a new beginning, to a different perspective (completely shifted), to a new understanding of ourselves and the world.

Well, the transformation of the universe cannot be the result of cerebral or dirigiste teaching; rather, it is the result of a narrative exploration - one that does not distance people from themselves.

And Jesus knows this.

New interpretation of the different Soils

Evolution of the Covenant in times of crisis: the same flaws, different harmonisations

(Mt 13:18-23)

God is generous, especially in the age of rebirth from crisis: it is also a time of generous sowing on the part of the Father.

He remains the Farmer of his seedlings - more adventurous and less respectable than traditionalists or fashionable people.

Obviously, the Word of the Master and Lord warns against anything that could prevent a new Genesis - above all because we often wait to mechanically return to old roles and the old system of things; to the habitual, external, dirigiste model.

Are we perhaps still too attached to desires and previous economic levels (v. 22) now overwhelmed by things... not accepting the emergence of opposites that we had never experienced or planned for (v. 19)?

We still think we can return to 'everything as before'; to the superficiality of a society based on appearances rather than convictions; to an immediately enthusiastic exterior (vv. 20-21) that does not shift our gaze.

Instead, the different tide comes so that we learn to fix our gaze within, elsewhere, and beyond - to focus on our own and others' 'unique figure' in the conviviality of differences.

It is likely that the knowledge or lifestyle we would like to reaffirm is still linked to standards, whether welcome, old-fashioned or à la page - now inadequate to provide new answers to new questions.

And perhaps all this has led us too much to follow and imitate the disqualified 'having-appearing', instead of being, and that precious character at the centre of our Calling by Name.

It is not impossible that we have allowed ourselves to become accustomed to decision-making nomenclatures or to rushing due to performance anxiety.

These do not take into account the 'beautiful terrain' of uniqueness, of the unprecedented gift of vocation [which would lead to better contact with the unfulfilled energies of our genuine inclination - nestled among inconsistencies].

Instead, we are all preoccupied with concerns about restoring things 'as they were' or 'as they should be'...

This is despite the fact that the current traumas are explicit signals to broaden the awareness that has been stifled until now (as if by 'brambles': v.22).

Eloquent appeals - even contemporary ones - to launch every side towards the Exodus, for the conquest of renewed freedoms; territories of the soul, though hidden, at the core of our essence.

All the influence of an empty and formal spirituality that we carry with us still inhibits a good perception of today, and unnerves us, taking away our inner strength.

It does not allow us to follow our own impulse in harmony with the inner world - or the same tendencies in listening to the incessant Call of the Gospels [which is still disseminated by non-approved prophets, to proclaim the truth and the creation of an alternative world].

Well, something or our whole life could be confused; more than ever, we are not going in the right and clear direction: we are not making ourselves special as the Sower would like - precisely because of the stereotypes or emotional voids that steal the Seed, or suffocate the plant, or because of the usual presumption that wants to return to towering immediately and thus prevents us from putting down deep 'roots'.

We will then have to put aside our mental turmoil and unilateral volitional turmoil; make room and give in to the new current of quality that is carrying us.

And surrender to the proposals of the tide of 'grains that come' to guide us beyond the old disputes: to the natural, original energy of Providence, which knows more than we do.

To the Wind of the Spirit that unfolds beyond, the grains - where you least expect them - it does not matter what percentage is productive (v.23b) but our 'beautiful' harmony (v.23a Greek text) that helps to bring us back to the reality of far-sighted mixtures.

They will reorder everything in a different way: beyond habitual mental systems - and every result will be more prudent, in favour of the Peripheries.

Without too much disposition and calculation in the choice of terrain [once pretentiously removed and sanitised upstream], we will realise that the Sower will have finally crumbled many worldly pedestals; not to humiliate anyone, but to give surprises of astonishing fertility, even for the growth of every creed (all denominations).

His is always and everywhere a generous and exceptionally creative Action, put in place to regenerate and empower convictions.

Not to make us repeat the usual actions or clichés from the manual [and start playing with performance again, or with the narrow confines of widely approved patterns].If we want to synchronise ourselves with the movement of the Sower, we must move with Him and like Him towards the poverty of the various soils (existential situations).

A special narrowness - even more acute in times of global emergency - that forces us to 'move', to become itinerant, to scatter everywhere.

And not just to gather the 'hundred' (v. 23) in the usual protected 'centre'.

The Lord scatters the seed of the word of God freely and with abundance but knowing that it may fall on poor soil, which will not allow a seed to mature because of dryness, or that its vital force may be extinguished, choked by thorn bushes. Yet the sower does not lose heart, for he knows that part of this seed is destined to find "good soil", namely, ardent hearts capable of receiving the word with willingness to help it mature through perseverance and yield fruit generously for the benefit of many. 

The image of the soil can evoke the reality of the family, on the whole good; the sometimes arid and harsh environment of work; the days of suffering and tears. The earth is above all the heart of every person, especially of youth, to whom you address your service of listening and guidance: a heart that is often confused and disoriented, yet capable of containing unimaginable powers of generosity. It is like a bud ready to open to a life spent for the love of Jesus, able to follow him with the totality and the certainty that comes from having found the greatest treasure that exists. It is always and only the Lord who sows in human hearts. Only after the abundant and generous sowing of the word of God can one progress further along the paths of companionship and education, of formation and discernment. All this is linked to that tiny seed, the mysterious gift of divine Providence which releases from within an extraordinary force. In fact, it is the Word of God who brings about in himself what he says and desires.

[Pope Benedict, to participants at the European conference on vocational pastoral care, 4 July 2009]

5. “Behold, the sower went forth to sow” (Mt 13:3).

The Incarnation of the Word is the greatest and truest “sowing” of the Father. At the end of time, the harvest will take place: man will then be subjected to God’s judgement. Having received much, much will be asked of him.

Man is responsible not only for himself, but also for other creatures. He is responsible in a global sense: in fact, their fate in time and beyond time is linked to him. If he obeys the Creator's plan and conforms to it, he leads the whole of creation into the kingdom of freedom, just as he dragged it with him into the kingdom of corruption because of his original disobedience. This is what St Paul meant to tell us today in the second reading.

His discourse is mysterious, but fascinating. By welcoming Christ, humanity is able to bring a flow of new life into creation. Without Christ, the cosmos itself pays the consequences of humanity's refusal to freely adhere to the plan of divine salvation. For our hope and that of all creatures, Christ has sown in the human heart a seed of new and immortal life. A seed of salvation that gives creation a new direction: the glory of the Kingdom of God.

[Pope John Paul II, homily at S. Stefano di Cadore, 11 July 1993]

When Jesus spoke, he used simple words and he also used images which were examples taken from daily life, in order to be easily understood by all. This is why they listened to him willingly and appreciated his message which directly touched their heart. And it was not that complicated language which was difficult to understand, as that used by the Doctors of the Law of that time, which was not easily understood, was very rigid and distanced people. And with this language Jesus made the mystery of the Kingdom of God understood; it was not complicated theology. And one example is that of today’s Gospel passage: the parable of the sower (cf. Mt 13:1-23).

The sower is Jesus. With this image, we can see that he presents himself as one who does not impose himself, but rather offers himself. He does not attract us by conquering us, but by donating himself: he casts seeds. With patience and generosity, he spreads his Word, which is not a cage or a trap, but a seed which can bear fruit. And how can it bear fruit? If we welcome it.

Therefore, the parable concerns us especially. In fact, it speaks more of the soil than of the sower. Jesus carries out, so to speak, a “spiritual X-ray” of our heart, which is the soil on which the seed of the Word falls. Our heart, like the soil, may be good and then the Word bears fruit — and a great deal — but it can also be hard and impermeable. This happens when we hear the Word but it bounces off of us, just as on a street: it does not enter.

Between the good soil and the street; the asphalt — if we throw a seed on the “sanpietrini” (cobblestones), nothing grows — there are however, two intermediate types of soil which, in different amounts, we can have within us. The first, Jesus says, isrocky. Let us try to imagine it: rocky ground is a terrain that “does not have much soil” (cf. Mt 13:5), so the seed sprouts but is unable to put down deep roots. This is how the superficial heart is: it welcomes the Lord, wants to pray, love and bear witness, but does not persevere; it becomes tired and never “takes off”. It is a heart without depth, where the rocks of laziness prevail over the good soil, where love is fickle and fleeting. But whoever welcomes the Lord only when they want to does not bear fruit.

Then, there is the last ground, the thorny one, filled with briars which choke the good plants. What do these thorns represent? “The cares of the world and the delight in riches” (v. 22), as Jesus says explicitly. The thorns are the vices which come to blows with God, which choke his presence: above all these are the idols of worldly wealth, living avidly, for oneself, for possessions and for power. If we cultivate these thorns, we choke God’s growth within us. Each of us can recognize his or her big or small thorns, the vices that inhabit the heart, those more or less deeply rooted briars that God does not like and that prevent us from having a clean heart. It is necessary to tear them out, otherwise the Word cannot bear fruit, the seed will not grow.

Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus invites us today to look inside ourselves: to give thanks for our good soil and to tend the soil that is not yet good. Let us ask ourselves if our heart is open to welcome the seed of the Word of God with faith. Let us ask ourselves if our rocks of laziness are still numerous and large; let us identify our thorns of vice and call them by name. Let us find the courage to reclaim the soil, to effect a nice conversion of our heart, bringing to the Lord in Confession and in prayer our rocks and our thorns. In doing this, Jesus, the Good Sower will be glad to carry out an additional task: purify our hearts by removing the rocks and the thorns which choke his Word.

[Pope Francis, Angelus, 16 July 2017]

Action of the Risen One

(Lk 8:1-3)

The rabbis did not accept women into their schools, because they were considered not up to the task.

But Jesus does not come to teach laws or philosophies, vice versa to gather around Him the despised and non-persons of all times.

In Christ each one opens himself to hope. Who was considered as worthless proclaims and bears witness to God’s love for the little ones and the least.

All with delicacy, and here are the female figures: fidelity takes over. 

In women, piety arises spontaneously [it is not conceived as for us males: immediately to the goal and source of gain].

With them also vanishes the anxiety of performance that accompanies men, who also on the ‘good’ must immediately appear setting up platforms and défilé; be all noticed, cultivate public and private relations that matter, and make career over it.

Jesus conquers the hearts of women because He understands their generosity, the depth of feelings, the capacity for dedication and personal relationship, the extreme gift of self; sensitivity, Faith-love, patience, meekness, generosity, capacity for fatigue and suffering.

Instead of "killing" time, women fill it thoroughly.

Jesus does not want a humanity aimed at being appreciated more than “hiding”, inclined to speak more than to ‘perceive’; willingly inclined to organize-plan more than to meditate - and to sense the depth of our Roots.

The prevalence or balance of the female aspect is an appropriate counterweight to a world prone to dirigisme and the exercise of the will, rather than to the cultivation of sons’ feelings.

Happy is that vocation accompanied by the intensity, depth, delicacy, ability to wait and at the same time consistency to the principles - and participation in destiny - typical aspects of female sensitivity and the world of consecrated women.

[Perhaps that of Mary, Joan, Susannah and many others of the early days was a role comparable to that of Martha in the family of Bethany, coordinator of the community of only sisters and brothers].

In Lk, the story of women expresses the action of the Risen One. He accepts them as followers and disciples.

In the female figures we read in filigree the story of humanity that in Christ rises and assumes dignity.

Nation that becomes fraternal in pain, prepares nourishment (instead of taking it away), persists, struggles and in this action becomes even an icon of prayer.

It is a model of dedication and self-giving [instead of calculation and cunning] - ready for life, and type of the Announcement; treasure that unleashes the Spirit.

Jesus on his way with the Twelve (v.1) still has a long journey to go today in the magic of the feminine - who knows how to welcome the person and listen to events, always being on the field.

Women learn from their essence, so they know how to attract, they know the indispensable things, they understand where and how to proceed, they are present in the present - and without dominating, they solve problems.

They are not afraid of losing “position”.

To internalize and live the message:

Do you feel called to a spiritual synthesis of personalities, with all the virtue and completeness that springs from a more complete character?

[Friday 24th wk. in O.T.  September 18, 2026]