I have many gifts. Keeping our front flower bed alive is not one of them. Every season, bliss with optimism, I purchase copious amounts of annuals, haul them home, weed and till, apply generous scoops of fertilizer, plant the flowers deep, and water plentifully. They, in turn, thank me for my hours of labor by promptly dying. I then consult Google, my plant app, friends, and the lady at the nursery to see what the issue may be. They all offer different advice, and by the end, my flowers—now clearly nothing more than experimental subjects—are exceedingly brown and stiff. It’s a cycle I repeat every season. 

Some (seed) fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.  It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose, it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots.  Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it (Mt 13:3-7).

How easily I can relate to the poor farmer in today’s Gospel! Every time I plant my flowers, I am hopeful that this time, surely, they will grow, take root, and flourish. I carefully tilled the soil. They will not be planted on rocky ground or among thorns. I have taken great care!

And yet, creation was made subject to futility (Rom 8:20), groaning in labor pains even until now (Rom 8:22). 

How well we know, dear mothers, as we nurture the hearts and souls of our children. We prepare the ground, hoping that the seed will take root. We hope for the thirty—fifty—hundred-fold result. But there are always the outliers, the situations and difficulties that were not part of the plan—the roots that wither, the thorns that choke, the rocky ground that thwarts us. And yet, God is faithful.

For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God (Rom 8:19).

And so it is with us. Our gardens may not be the most productive aspect of our lives, but the tilled soil of our children’s hearts is the priority, and we know it. We are farmers of Christ, nurturing faithful children of God. 

My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it (Is 55:11).