The month of Hatour: The parable of the sower, God’s word and the types of soil

The planting season in Egypt begins during the first two weeks of the Coptic month of Hatour according to the old agricultural tradition. The readings present us with psalms that are full of hope and joy that coincide with this season. The vespers psalm, “Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.” (Psalm 17:15,6) The psalm of matins, “You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it.” (Psalm 64:9) As for the Gospel’s Psalm, it is a supplication, “You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.” (Psalm 64:10,11) One way or another, all of these psalms point to the earth, planting, water, and the fruits, they also point to the spiritual fruit that flourishes from the work of God’s word in the soul and the body, which the earth symbolises. In addition it also points to the mystery of the incarnation.

The parable of the sower is one of Christ’s most important parables, and it is also the first parable that all three gospels have mentioned, furthermore, each gospel highlighted it vividly, “And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 14:3) The vespers gospel clarifies the importance of understanding this parable in order to comprehend the other parables, because this is where Christ explains the provision of Salvation. Due to the importance of this parable, Christ personally explained it.

The church presents this parable in its readings at the start of the discussion regarding the mystery of the incarnation, which points to the parable’s importance in understanding this mystery.   The church highlights this parable in each of the gospels throughout the span of the first two weeks of the Coptic month of Hatour, which precede the beginning of the Nativity fast.

The seeds are the words of God that He plants in our earthly bodies. St. Paul states, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) Soil by nature does not have life, instead it has deadly thorns that suffocate the good seeds, besides the stones that hinder growth, “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3) Prepare the way of the Lord in the soil, so that it may welcome the word that bears eternal life. This calling is an alert to the soul that it may prepare a place of rest for the Lord within it.

The Catholic epistle contributes to the parable of the sower by confirming that good and evil cannot be joined, “Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” (James 3:11-12)

“A sower went out to sow his seed.” (Luke 8:5) According to St. Matthew the seed is the word of the kingdom of heaven; according to St. Mark, the seed is the word, and according to St. Luke, it is the word of God. St. Luke describes that the sower planted the seeds, because the seeds pertain to God personally i.e. His word. The sower sows the seeds for everyone, without an exception; however, the response is different according to the readiness of the earth.

There are those who say that God created vessels for honour and vessels for dishonour, a quarried land, a land with thorns, and a good land. They say that salvation is linked to a nature that we have no choice over. This logic is wrong and does not coincide with the parable. God granted everyone the same chance by sowing seeds in each soul. The free soul has the freedom to reject or to accept, just as it has the ability to work, because he who tills his land and preserves it, waters it, and purifies it from the thorns and the stones, will reap the fruits of his labour. However, they refuse to work!

The sower went out to sow: have you prepared your soil to welcome His seeds in you? What is your soil’s condition so that it is able to accept His word? What type of soil categorizes your soul? We need to assess ourselves.

The first type of path is the beaten path, as it is open to every opinion and it is trampled on by every new thought. The shallower it is, the more its pores are closed; it does not accept the seeds, which are the word of Christ’s truth. Thus the seeds remain on the surface until the thoughts of the world come like crows to pick them up without leaving a trace in the soul. The solution to the problem of this road is to plow through the experiences first, then repent, and take God’s matters seriously.

The second path is opposite to the first. The closed minded and stubborn minded person rejoices in religion in an emotional way, placing it in a closed mould. It exempts him from freedom in which he finds suffering and painful experiences that he can do without. This person leans towards fanaticism and extremism in order to satisfy his feeling with religiousness, whereas in fact he is spiritually dry, because he does not have the depth of the earth as Christ describes. The sun of trials burns him and dehydrates whatever vegetation he has on the surface. His closemindedness places him in many dilemmas of faith; as a result, he becomes shocked by the reality, which requires broadness of the soul. He is afraid of freedom and is quickly torn when faced with situations.

The solution to his problem is found in prayer, praise, and avoiding dialogue. Attempting to destroy his stubbornness may harm him. God’s love will help him to withstand trials, “ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The third type of path is the most common type: the normal person who lives his time without serious interest in his spiritual life, and the worries of the world that resulted from desires compile over him. This person accepts everything that Satan throws in his field, from thorns to ideas, without examining or resisting them. At the same time, when he receives the word of God, an internal psychological struggle occurs – if he does not resolve this struggle, he will gradually lag behind. In this, the soil begins to lose its porosity and its willingness to accept the word of God until it reaches the state of the first path. If this species finds the necessary care through plowing and purification from harmful thorns, it will turn into good soil, but in its present condition, according to St. Luke, “They do not ripen fruit…”

The good soil brings forth spiritual fruit, “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15) For, the good soil cannot take credit for its good nature, but by preserving the word of God and persevering until it brings forth fruit, according to the caliber of work, the fruit will appear. There are degrees of fruitfulness according to the openness to accept the word of God and to work by it, “But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: somea hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 8:15) God accepts even thirty out of one hundred.