The Church: called to a life of never-ending renewal

Not everything on the Web is of dubious value, often far removed from reality and truth, while at the same time being seductive and appealing to those who seek easy solutions to life's challenges. There are gems there as well, one of which I found while reflecting on the meaning of the parable of the seeds. I found its arguments to be of great value in thinking on the say to address the multitude of challenges facing our Church today. It reminded us how there is always a multitude of commentators ready to point out the tragic decline of the Christian faith among the baptised. As a result, our world becomes more secular, and there is, at best, a tepid indifference to Christianity, and more often an outright rejection of the Church and its Gospel message.   That should come as no surprise, as the New Testament itself speaks of parts of the Church struggling to make inroads into the pagan world.

The picture today is reminiscent of Jesus's strong words to the Laodicean Church in the Book of Revelation. The Laodiceans were neither cold nor hot in their relationship with God, but rather lukewarm. The reference to lukewarmness is an indication of what their faith was like – nothing happening here! Whereas hot water can cleanse and purify, and cold water can refresh and enliven, lukewarm water carries no value. The Laodiceans understood the Lord’s analogy because their city's drinking water came via an aqueduct from a spring six miles to the south, and it arrived disgustingly lukewarm. Laodicean water was neither hot, like the nearby hot springs where people bathed, nor refreshingly cold for drinking. It was lukewarm, good for nothing. In fact, it was nauseating, and that was the Lord’s response to the Laodiceans—they sickened Him, and He said, “I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (verse 16).

There is never a shortage of opinions on how to move people from those having no interest to having at least some interest in the faith. They include (but not limited to): make it fun, interactive, make it relevant, tell stories, unstructured liturgies, focus on the positive, not the negative, use visuals, allow them to have their own experience, etc. Before getting bogged down in the countless suggestions that relate to children and adults, we must first understand why most of the Western world has a bored disinterest in the Christian faith.   

One repeated mistake made by the Church at all levels is that we can become so consumed with finding human answers to pressing questions that we forget that Jesus has already answered these questions with depth and precision in His parable of the Sower.  As it was with the people who decided to build the Tower of Babel, it all comes down to basic human arrogance, believing our human brains and planning are at least equal to the historically limited teaching of Jesus. 

St. Matthew records this parable:  

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil, and brought forth grain, some hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears let him hear.” (Matthew 13: 3-9)

Our Lord typically used parables to both reveal and conceal divine mysteries. While we might not have the spiritual “ears” to fully hear the meaning of this parable, Jesus was kind enough to explain the parable to the often intellectually slow disciples (and us).

“Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the Evil One comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” (Matthew 13: 18-23)

In that parable taught by Jesus, we can highlight three impediments that parallel three sources.

The path represents the devil.

The rocky ground represents the flesh,

and the thorns embody the world.

These three images and their corresponding sources are the primary reason children and adults alike find the coming together, worship and message of the Church boring, irrelevant and as something offering little in the way of giving hope and purpose to people living in a world where belonging is often so hard to find. 

Jesus helps us in understanding the power of what he is teaching them by going to the source of these barriers, showing us that the primary cause of a soul falling into a lukewarm state is the devil, the flesh, and the world. The Bible continuously reveals that the three obstacles to spiritual advancement come from the world (Matthew 13:22, 19:34), the flesh (your passions, Matthew 13:21, 10:22, 26:41) and the devil (Matthew 13:19, 10:28). As well the apostle James declares, “This wisdom is not such as it comes down from above but is earthly [world], unspiritual [flesh], and devilish [devil]” (James 3:15, cf. Ephesians 2: 1-3).

In the parable, Jesus first mentioned the obstacle as “the path.” It breaks down as follows:

The impediment: The path

The source: The devil (birds)

Solution: Scripture, prayer, the sacraments  

As the word of God comes to those souls who are on the path, birds come and snatch the Word from the path. The seed of God’s word is unable to penetrate the path because the path is hardened, like concrete. As the path has been stepped on by many “shoes” over a period it is no longer soft. Rather, the hardness of the path makes it easy for birds (i.e. demons) to grab God’s seed and never let it gain a foothold in the ground.

This is a valid observation of the way we live in the world today.  We are confronted with a never-ending flood of confusing ideas from the culture. These false but alluring messages that come our way through the culture in which we are living, act like numerous boots stomping on our soul, thus making the soul impenetrable for the seed to saturate in the ground. Behind all this “stomping” of mistaken ideas of the culture to incite a rock-solid path is none other than the devil. He has created a devious plan to get people so caught up in the array of fake doctrines that when God’s word is delivered, he can swoop in and snatch it away, thus leaving little time for the Word to penetrate the average soul. Jesus mentioned that those along the path "do not understand" God's word. They do not understand God's teaching because they have been so compromised by a deceitful satanic source that when the light of God's teaching is presented, they not only fail to discern that God is calling them, but they are unable to understand what it is God is saying to them, and the abundant blessings that are on offer through faith.

When faced with the hardened path dilemma, the good gardener understands that he needs to run his plough over the impacted soil so that the loosened sods allow the seeds to find a source of nourishment and life.   Theologically, the ploughing that breaks the soil open is Scripture, prayer, and the sacraments. Keeping in mind the agricultural image used in the parable, it should be noted that the process of being tilled is not a gentle experience for the path. In a similar vein, the soul that goes through a revitalisation will initially be distraught from this encounter.  Like it was with the top layer of the soil, our souls need to be cracked open, turned over and stirred up. It is only through an encounter with the living God that the soul will be able to let go of the popular philosophies of the demon-infested world and allow God’s teaching to saturate our souls. In short, the soul needs to remove what they want to be true and accept what is true.  

The main way the devil manipulates people is through subtle temptations. So skilled is he at camouflage that we are not always clear that it is in fact a demonic temptation seeking to keep us from the loving embrace of Christ.  Fortunately, Jesus gives us a good example of how to deal with the attacks of the devil. In Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus was tempted by the devil, Jesus quoted scripture as His own defence. The devil cunningly tried to twist God’s word in his temptation of Christ (Matthew 4:6). Jesus saw right through this trap and continued to quote scripture back to the adversary. An interesting contrast is how the devil incorrectly quoted God’s word when speaking to Eve in the garden. He was able to cause Eve to doubt God’s love for her and Adam because she was not certain of exactly what God had said. This is a helpful reminder for us to learn what the Bible authentically teaches rather than distorting the scriptures to say what we want them to say.

Prayer also acts as a weapon to repulse the devil. When the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to drive out demons, Jesus answered that this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). When Joshua and the Israelites were fighting against the Amalekites, they were only able to advance through the intercession of Moses in prayer. Immersed in spiritual warfare, prayer acts as a weapon in curtailing the power of the seductive temptations that are assaulting our minds. 

The next obstacle we encounter is the rocky ground. In Jesus’s parable, when those on the rocky ground hear the word, at first, it sprouts up quickly. Jesus teaches that this growth is because they receive God’s word with the emotion of joy. Therefore, initially God’s message is met with enthusiasm. Very often, people will cheerfully accept the uplifting parts of the faith (miracles, heaven, peace, God’s love). Yet, as we’ll see, taking in God’s word merely because at times, it produces good feelings for us will turn out to be a cheap faith that will not last. In this setting, a person happily jumps on the faith train because the faith incites uplifting emotions, but when God’s word presents blunt challenges that are uncomfortable to hear, the sun will scorch them. Messages such as: you are flawed with sin, repent, do penance, fast, pray, go to church, offer your body as a sacrifice, etc. are met with uneasiness to an emotionally laced soul. Then, their initial joy will burn out. In Christ's own words, these people have no root. They are missing the foundation of the faith because they are only seeking the faith for an emotional high.  Do something or say something that does not meet with their approval and faith is what is pushed aside.

As Jesus explained when tribulation and persecution arise from God’s word, those of lukewarm faith will inevitably fall away. It makes sense that this process of falling away is described with the word “rocky” because rocky insinuates that God’s word is hard, challenging, and involves a suffering of the self. Here, our wants collide with our needs. We prefer our wants over our needs so that when the faith no longer meets our personal desires and conditions, the expectations of Jesus become of little interest and we are seduced by the messages of the world as we seek to maintain control over our lives and determine our place in creation. 

Church fathers tell us that the rocky ground represents the flesh. The word “flesh” in Greek is “sarx”, which can be translated as disorderly desires. The flesh represents our disordered passions within us that cause us to remove ourselves from God’s message. This Biblical word refers to the “physical,” “natural,” and “lower” element of life; in short, the flesh is our lower appetites - that which we have in common with the animals. Being under the control of the flesh one merely responds to whatever their sensual and emotional cravings have a hankering for. Of course, the flesh is only going to gravitate to what initially “feels good.”  And this is in no way limited to just areas of human sexuality.  It is all about the self.

The Apostle Paul wrote about the wrestling that dominated so much of his own life. He said, For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, my flesh. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do (Romans 7:18-19).  St. Paul refers to the flesh as an endless battle waging war within him, so much so that he declares, Wretched man that I am! (Romans 7:24). Living under the disordered desires of the flesh makes us addicts to many numbing carnal pleasures of our world.  The pleasures of the world do produce a short-term dopamine spike - a brief happiness high, but they can so easily end up turning us into addicts, constantly pursuing a false sense of joy while at the same time sucking out God’s enduring blessings. Sadly, while someone is under the influence of the flesh, God’s seed will not be able to penetrate. St. Paul reinforces this sentiment. To set the mind on the flesh is death. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot, and those that are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:6-8, cf. James 1: 13-14).

Our body, our old mind, our worldly emotions, our corrupted will, our bad habits, will say, I know what God says, but I don’t feel like …or But I want to … Here lies the internal battle.

What is the solution to battling our flawed emotions inside? In Romans, St. Paul contrasts the flesh with the spirit. That is, the Holy Spirit provides us with certain gifts to combat the inner workings of the flesh (see Isaiah 11:2, Romans 8: 1-17, Wisdom 8:7). And St. Paul articulates that one of the effects of the Spirit is self-control (Galatians 5: 22-23). With self-control, Paul is tapping into the solution to dealing with the out-of-control flesh – discipline. Discipline means we do not always do what we necessarily “feel” like doing, choosing instead to do what we know God wants us to do. It is in those moments when we do not feel like doing what God says that more than ever, we need to call out to Him for help.

But developing discipline takes time. It begins to grow through rigorous, consistent practice. The scriptures liken the process to the preparations made by an athlete in training. The successful athlete works to cultivate the virtues in which the intellect and will control the passions (Romans 8: 1-5) rather than merely having one’s passions run the show.  It is the only way to become a gold medal champion. 

In sum, the second obstacle breaks down as follows:

The impediment: Rocky ground

The source: The flesh

Solution: Receiving the Holy Spirit and developing the virtues

After addressing the inner struggles of the flesh, our next confrontation is the third barrier– the thorns. Jesus describes the thorns as the cares of the world.” Here, the ideas of the world act as a kind of cancerous growth that chokes up God’s word because the world’s message stands in stark contrast to God’s. As Jesus said, For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul (Matthew 16:26)? Here, Jesus is implying that the messages of the world will strip away our God-given souls. Or as New Testament writers announce about the world:

"The wisdom of the world is folly to God" (1 Cor. 3:19).

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world" (Romans 12:2).

“keep oneself unstained by the world”  (James 1:27).

“to be a lover of the world means enmity with God” (James 4:4).

What does the “world” represent? It can be summed up as the overarching philosophy of the world.  Today in particular, it would encompass the destructive Social Justice Theory that is at the heart of all that is woke.  It is popular opinion; the media; popular culture, entertainment, politics. It is what “everyone does” and it is what we will do if we do not purposefully choose to do otherwise.  The whole “current” of this world is going in the other direction — away from God. Whereas the world merely wants to entertain and satisfy our desires for satisfaction and pleasure, God wishes to challenge us to make us saints. As the late Benedict XVI observed, The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness.

The third scenario also mentions the delight of riches as an impediment. With pride comes greed which, in turn, makes us consumers of "things" rather than servants of God. Of course, the message of the world can be summed up as an aspiration to pursue wealth and fame as a source of happiness. This motto inverts the created reality, that the way to happiness goes through God, not the self through the allure of luxury and power.

The third impediment shows us that we are up against the onslaught of messages of the world that seek to drown out God’s word. Given the rise of technology, the volume of the world’s message has been turned up to deafening levels. With the world abuzz over consumerism, relativism, sexual freedoms and gender dysphoria, the world's doctrine penetrates many souls while simultaneously acting as a crushing impediment that obstructs God’s word from taking hold. 

Enemy: The world - totality of the ideas of the world

The solution: The totality of Jesus’s teaching in the Church. For whatever is born of God [the Church] overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith (1 John 5:4).

After these distractions are identified and then removed with precision, we will begin to be able to hear the Word. Recall how in the parable the good soil is the one who hears God’s word and understands it. How does he understand it? The path, the rocks, and the thorns have all been cleared out so it is easier to grasp God's teaching. While it may seem incredibly exhausting for a soul to remove these forceful impediments, the key hinges on how much the soul opens himself up to God and so allows the Almighty to work away within him. After simmering in the soul, the Word moves one into action with a holy enthusiasm.  

As workers in Christ’s vineyard, we can only help others remove their obstacles if we first remove our similar impediments (see Matthew 7:5). Moreover, patience is required in cultivating good soil. Just like the seed, growing unseen, the kingdom within us remains silent, hidden now but the seed eventually manifests itself to produce fruit. Once the path, rocks, and thorny weeds have been uprooted, far from producing boredom, God’s word will incite much fruit - a joyful soul flush with life.

Bishop Michael Hough                                                   July  2025