Word-Seeds

Planting the seeds of our words in hearts to bear much fruit

02/23/2018

Matthew 5:20-26 Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."

Seeds are fascinating little things. Sometimes they annoy us when we think we are eating seedless grapes, but other times they bless us abundantly when we plant them in the ground. What happens, for instance, when we put a small apple seed into the ground and water it regularly? A miracle happens: it slowly sprouts and eventually grows into a big tree apple tree that produces delicious fruit. One seed grows into an apple tree and produces apples that many people can enjoy. When you gaze at a ripe, red and shiny apple it is hard to imagine how that came from a little apple seed, but so it did.

Parents and teachers are also gardeners who plant seeds, but their seeds are not apple seeds but rather words of wisdom. They plant those word-seeds of wisdom in the soil of our hearts, and after a long time – after we grow up – those word-seeds produce the great fruit of goodness and love and wisdom in us. I sometimes reminisce over the past forty years of my life and I feel deep gratitude for my parents and teachers who planted those word-seeds in my heart and helped me to bear good fruit as a priest today. Sometimes I remember very specific words they said to me, and I try to live by them. I am pretty sure that I would not bear any good fruit today if those “spiritual gardeners” had not done their job so many years ago, patiently planting those word-seeds. Words, like seeds, seem small and powerless - gone in a breath - but they can produce tremendous fruit.

Jesus tells the people that not all word-seeds are good and produce good fruit, there are some word-seeds that are bad and produce rotten fruit. He says that calling someone a name like “Fool” is a bad word-seed. And when you plant that seed in someone’s heart it can hurt them very badly. Furthermore, we will be punished for planting those word-seeds in people’s hearts. He explains: “Whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.” So, be careful what seeds you plant in people’s hearts.

Did you know that Jesus was also the “Word” of God? Indeed, God only speaks one Word, and that Word is his Son, Jesus Christ.  You might say that Jesus is the ultimate “Word-Seed” because after he died on the Cross, what did the people do with his body? They buried it in the ground, like a seed. And three days later a miracle happened, just like it does with all seeds, that is, the world beheld the Resurrection, the first sprouts of what would eventually grow into the great Tree of the Church, that spiritual Tree that would bear the innumerable fruit of billions and billions of Christians. You are and I are the fruit of the Word-Seed of Jesus being buried in the ground and producing fruit that will last forever. One small seed can produce great and beautiful fruit.

Try to think about every word you speak being like a tiny seed. And remember two things about these word-seeds. First, like Jesus taught, there are “good word-seeds” (like what your parents and teachers say to you), but there are also “bad word-seeds” (like when you call someone else a “fool”) that hurt others and which will be punished. Second, when we speak those word-seeds, they are planted in the soil of other people’s hearts and those seeds will bear fruit in them. So, be sure to speak and plant only good word-seeds that others really need to hear.

By the way, do you ever talk to yourself, especially when you think no one is around? When we speak word-seeds out of ear-shot of others, when we are our only audience, we are still planting those seeds into someone’s heart? Can you guess whose heart those word-seeds are planted in? We plant them in our own hearts, and those word-seeds we plant will bear fruit of one kind or another. Seeds are such small things, but they can make such a big difference.

Praised be Jesus Christ!