Sower and the Seed: who is the 1st group?

[Luke2220]

Parable of the Sower and the Seed, Mk.4: 1-20

Question: as ‘choices’ go, who is that first group of receivers?

In this parable, of the 4 groups of people that receive the word, 3 groups don’t bear fruit. However of the 1st group, what ‘choice’ did they make that causes them to be fruitless.
The explanation is written as though they never had a chance to make a choice:
“The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them."

How do I relate to that 1st group of receivers?
It seems they are taken advantage of by Satan who “comes at once and takes away the word”, without having been distracted to even make a choice.
What ‘choice’ or distraction is the 1st group falling victim to?
For groups 2, & 3, the distraction (choice) is more obvious.

Your sage wisdom I seek to better understand that one point / group of people.

Peace,
Luke2220

 

[TARRAT]

Read a meditation today that suggested not that we think in terms of the seeds but in term of the sower. This is just another take on the parable. We should evangelize always and everywhere and let the Lord worry about the growth that you set out.

Just a different point of view that I thought was interesting.

 

[Lion_IRC]

Yes, the priest at mass yesterday (Feast of St Thomas) didn’t give a homily on the Gospel reading but just let us quietly reflect on the parable.

You’re right, the seed itself is never the cause of the problem. There is nothing in the parable by which we can blame the seed for lacking the potential to grow. Neither can we accuse the sower of not freely sowing everywhere or in places where we might think it was a waste of time to sow seeds.

 

[hu324b]

This is what I read this morning.

Parable of the sower
What does the parable about seeds and roots say to us about the kingdom of God? Any farmer will attest to the importance of good soil for supplying nutrients for growth. And how does a plant get the necessary food and water it needs except by its roots? The scriptures frequently use the image of fruit-bearing plants or trees to convey the principle of spiritual life and death. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8; see also Psalm 1:3).

Jesus’ parable of the sower is aimed at the hearers of his word. There are different ways of accepting God’s word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly. There is the prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to what he or she doesn’t want to hear. Then there is the shallow hearer. He or she fails to think things out or think them through; they lack depth. They may initially respond with an emotional reaction; but when it wears off their mind wanders to something else.

Another type of hearer is the person who has many interests or cares, but who lacks the ability to hear or comprehend what is truly important. Such a person is too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God’s word.

Then there is the one whose mind is open. Such a person is at all times willing to listen and to learn. He or she is never too proud or too busy to learn. They listen in order to understand. God gives grace to those who hunger for his word that they may understand his will and have the strength to live according to it. Do you hunger for God’s word?

From:rc.net/wcc/readings/jan28.htm

 

[Dorothy]

Parable of the Sower and the Seed, Mk.4: 1-20

Question: as ‘choices’ go, who is that first group of receivers?

In this parable, of the 4 groups of people that receive the word, 3 groups don’t bear fruit. However of the 1st group, what ‘choice’ did they make that causes them to be fruitless.
The explanation is written as though they never had a chance to make a choice:
“The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them."

How do I relate to that 1st group of receivers?
It seems they are taken advantage of by Satan who “comes at once and takes away the word”, without having been distracted to even make a choice.
What ‘choice’ or distraction is the 1st group falling victim to?
For groups 2, & 3, the distraction (choice) is more obvious.

Your sage wisdom I seek to better understand that one point / group of people.

Peace,
Luke2220

Satan can’t take away anything without our allowing him to take it. Some people “hear” but they allow it to go in one ear and out the other.

 

[Mintaka]

First off, you need to also read Matthew 13, which is the parallel telling of this parable.

The uncleared soil covered with weeds and thorns, the thin soil on top of rocks, and the hard-beaten path that birds/demons can easily steal from – these are all representing spiritual “soil conditions.” A person should be trying to have a mind and heart that is deep and soft and fertile, not one that is full of worldly weeds or shallowly fertile. And being a well-beaten path means that you won’t let anything grow in you at all.

So it’s not that these people have it taken from them, but that they don’t provide any kind of shelter for any seed of God. So they aren’t prepared when God does speak to them. They just let everything walk over their heads and peck at them, knowing that nothing bad or good can possibly get through.