Good Fruit And Manure

8:30 Homily

In our Gospel we hear that Jesus spoke to the crowds at length in parables.  We might wonder if he told jokes as well.  He might have told these jokes:

How do we know Peter is a rich fisherman? Answer: By his net income.

What animal did Noah find it difficult to trust? Answer: The cheetah

What is the best way to get to Paradise? Answer: Turn right and go straight.

What sport did I play? Answer: Lacrosse

Why didn't Noah go fishing? Answer: He only had two worms.

Knock, knock

(Who’s there?)

Jesus.

(Jesus who?)

Jesus Christ, open the door.

We suspect Jesus had a sense of humor to go along with his excellent down-to-earth parables. His parables revealed truths hidden in clever stories meant to force the crowd to think, have courage, and then follow him, as well as understand how to confront oppressors in a non-violent way and, of course, to do the will of God.  

Regarding this will of God, Jesus might have quoted passages from Hebrew Scripture such as our first reading from Isaiah: “Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that [which] goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” 

Isaiah is reminding all of us that when we hear the words spoken by Jesus, they are like water falling upon us, and we serve as seeds in the good ground we call our Church.  But it is only good ground if we germinate, grow, and yield a fruitful harvest such as fruits of the Holy Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I’m going to throw into the fruit basket compassion, sincerity, and right at the top of the basket integrity and honesty.  That’s a large horn of plenty, a cornucopeia.

Bad fruit is rotten fruit such as abuse, neglect, violence, addiction, manipulation, and greed. That’s a horn of nothing but rot and decay.

Consider this other reading from Matthew: Jesus said to his disciples: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit...Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So, by their fruits you will know them." (Matthew 7:15-20)

Yes, by their fruits we will know the rotten trees among us, but will we reject them?  We must; otherwise, we will feel the fire, and the ravenous wolves and false prophets – the hypocrites and liars – will consume us. As Jesus said, “Those of us with ears to hear, let him or her hear.”

In today’s Gospel parable from Matthew we read about a sower who went out to sow seeds.  The parable is about the ground on which the seeds are sown: a path, rocky ground, one with thorns, and rich soil. Much seed is lost when not carefully sown with the consequences being well described in the reading. This parable is about hearing and understanding the Word of God, and when we do, we bear good fruit.

There is another interpretation of this parable. It can be about the sower, as well as the ground. Each of us is a sower. Why would we be so careless with the spreading of our seed for a fruitful harvest? The point is we are not being careless. We are being hopeful that everyone can hear and understand the Word and then be transformed. We simply have to prepare the ground for the seeds we will sow. And, yes, that can be difficult, hard work.

“Some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up.”  Let’s till that path to break up the hard soil. Tilling happens through our forgiveness, empathy, sympathy, compassion and love. If the birds come to eat, let them eat. We will not be deterred. We have plenty of seeds. Jesus tells us: “Sow your seeds on the paths!”

“Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.” So, let’s use our shovels and dig out those rocks. Let’s throw down some garden soil, and add fertilizer. Those rocks can be loneliness, pain, and fear. We remove them from people by accompanying them on their hard walks and struggles by listening to them; putting our arms around their shoulders; and picking them up when they are down. Jesus tells us: “Sow your seeds on rocky ground!”

“Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.” Some people are bullied, scorned, mocked, and derided. They are put down, called worthless, and are mentally and physically tortured. We know some of those choking thorns in their victims’ sides. We must confront those bullies and cruel people and pull them out by calling them out to their faces. Jesus tells us: “Sow your seeds in the thorns! Confront the thorns!”

“But some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.” It’s great to have rich soil – especially on sandy Cape Cod – but the challenge and need is for us to get that good harvest out of hard paths, rocky ground, and amongst the thorns. They can be our friends, neighbors, and even within our families.

We end by listening to today’s responsorial psalm that speaks of our responsibilities and obligations: “You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it. God's watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain.” Simply stated, we are to prepare the land; drench its furrows; break up its clods; and soften it with showers.

As someone who spent his childhood spreading tons of manure to fertilize his grandparent’s farm and fields and then working it into the soil, I’ll add that during the course of our lives there will be manure – some people whose behavior just stinks.  It’s up to us to see them as they really are – children of God whose behavior may be due to childhood and young-adult wounds and suffering, especially from lack of love, loneliness, and abandonment.  Let’s work them into our lives.  As manure enriches the soil, so can these people enrich our lives making us fruitful.

And, by the way, let’s never forget, quite often we are the manure. We either simply stink, or we enrich other peoples’ lives. It’s our choice.

Deacon David Pierce