Vigils Reading – 15th Sunday

A reading from

ST GREGORY THE GREAT

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Dearly beloved, the reading from the holy gospel about the sower requires

no explanation, but only a word of warning. In fact the explanation has been

given by Truth himself, and it cannot be disputed by a frail human being.

However, there is one point in our Lord’s exposition which you ought to weigh

well. It is this. If I told you that the seed represented the word, the field the

world, the birds the demons, and the thorns riches, you would perhaps be in two

minds as to whether to believe me. Therefore the Lord himself deigned to

explain what he had said, so that you would know that a hidden meaning is to be

sought also in those passages which he did not wish to interpret himself.

Would anyone have believed me if I had said that thorns stood for riches?

After all, thorns are piercing and riches pleasurable. And yet riches are thorns

because thoughts of them pierce the mind and torture it. When finally they lure

a person into sin, it is as though they were drawing blood from the wound they

have inflicted… The only true riches are those that make us rich in virtue.

Therefore, if you want to be rich, beloved, love true riches. If you aspire to the

heights of real honor, strive to reach the kingdom of heaven. If you value rank

and renown, hasten to be enrolled in the heavenly court of the angels.

Store up in your minds the Lord’s words which you receive through your

ears, for the word of the Lord is the nourishment of the mind. When his word is

heard but not stored away in the memory, it is like food which has been eaten

and then rejected by an upset stomach. A person’s life is despaired of if he

cannot retain his food; so if you receive the food of holy exhortations, but fail to

store in your memory those words of life which nurture righteousness, you have

good reason to fear the danger of everlasting death.

Be careful, then, that the word you have received through your ears

remains in your heart. Be careful that the seed does not fall along the path, for

fear that the evil spirit may come and take it from your memory. Be careful that

the seed is not received in stony ground, so that it produces a harvest of good

works without the roots of perseverance. Many people are pleased with what

they hear and resolve to undertake some good work, but as soon as difficulties

begin to arise and hinder them they leave the work unfinished. The stony

ground lacked the necessary moisture for the sprouting seed to yield the fruit of

perseverance.

Good earth, on the other hand, brings forth fruit by patience. The reason

for this is that nothing we do is good unless we also bear with equanimity the

injuries done us by our neighbors. In fact, the more we progress, the more

hardships we shall have to endure in this world; for when our love for this

present world dies, its sufferings increase. This is why we see many people

doing good works and at the same time struggling under a heavy burden of

afflictions. They now shun earthly desires, and yet they are tormented by

greater sufferings. But, as the Lord said, they bring forth fruit by patience,

because, since they humbly endure misfortunes, they are welcomed when these

are over into a place of rest in heaven.