Reflection

The secret is in the soil. That is what my father always would say to me. He worked for the Department of Agriculture back home. He is now retired and works in his own farm. During summer vacations, I would go with him in his fieldwork to check on the different experimental crops and fruit trees that were being tested. I would be amazed at the size of the fruits I saw because they were so big and bountiful. And I would tell my father that we should get the seeds and plant it in our own land because they produce big fruits. He said, The seed is important. But that is not the only reason behind good fruits. The secret is in the soil … and how you care for it.

The meaning of this parable is clear. Jesus explains it himself. He makes it clear that the fecundity, effectiveness, and potency of the seed depend largely on the kind of soil it is planted on. Implicitly, Jesus is handing to us the key to the door of a fruitful and meaningful Christian life. The key is the care we give to the soil, which is nothing more than the human heart. The process of caring is an important aspect of our humanity. For the seed to bear multitudinous fruits, we need, first and foremost, to learn how to care.

And how should we care? Thomas Moore in his book Care for the Soul uses the image of the parish priest to describe succinctly what caring is. He says we use the same term to describe the work and the title of a parish priest: cura. Thus, we have the word curate, one who cares for souls. It is from the Latin cura which means to care. Thus, the work of priests is called cura animarum or the care of souls. Caring is not so much an activity but an attitude. Many times, we mistakenly associate caring with doing things for another. A mechanic fixes a broken machine, a doctor treats the sick, and an analyst solves problems. But the attitude of one who really cares is not immediately to fix, mend, or solve problems but to be like a nurse who observes and attends to the needs of the patient. And is this not what Jesus did in his life? He noticed Philip on the tree, he saw that the crowds were hungry and he looked at Peter with love in spite of his failures. He was an unobtrusive observer. It is only in observing carefully and watching compassionately, can we attend effectively to the real needs of others. One who cares distinguishes the real needs from mere wants. He is deeply concerned with what is beneficial for the other. In doing so, we become the fruitful soil Jesus speaks about. And caring is the attitude that cultivates our whole person to become the soil that yields a hundred-fold.

Response

But why is the high-yielding seed of God’s word not bearing the abundant fruit it should? Because we have cared less about our soil which is nothing more than the human heart. We have not been careful especially with two things. First, our careless attitudes like insensitivity, indifference, and self-righteousness are slowly but effectively destroying the soil of our heart. Secondly, our careless activities like unfaithfulness to our promises, unjust practices and even hurtful treatment of others, do not cultivate our soil. Carelessness has to be replaced by carefulness. We need to care for the soil of our heart before the seed of God’s word can yield numerous fruits.