Jesus next reveals the meaning of the seed sown on rocky ground and among thorns that initially flourishes but then withers away when anxiety and adversity strike. This speaks to the sinner and addict who does not yet understand that to love God and neighbor—the very purpose of recovery—always and necessarily involves suffering. The drama of addiction usually centers around our compulsive flight from pain at all costs. We recklessly indulge ourselves in transient pleasures and illusory distractions to dissociate from the reality of suffering. The result is that we are incapacitated from being able to consistently receive and give love. A major goal of recovery is discovering that “hardship is the pathway to peace,” and that the seeds of God’s grace only fully germinate in our lives if we perseveringly carry our crosses daily in suffering, confident love. Not until we recognize and truly embrace that suffering and love are two sides of the same coin will we ever remotely be able to receive the gifts of sanity, sobriety, and serenity.
For the Lord, the rich soil that bears abundant fruit is the heart steeped in trusting humility, the heart that accepts its brokenness and powerlessness before God, the heart that recognizes its abiding and existential need for a savior. This is the fecund soul that the Divine Sower can work with and cultivate so that we may flourish in His love and thereby be healed to fulfill the vocation for which we were all created—to love God and neighbor with undivided hearts.
Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us!
Reflection Questions
- How does the Parable of the Sower speak to your life in addiction as well as coming into recovery? Give examples of how your life represented the seed sown on the hard path, the seed sown on rocky ground among thorns, and the seed sown on fertile soil.
- Reflect on how you are learning to accept that love and suffering go together and form the basis of authentic conversion and a healthy, sustainable recovery.
Daily Mass Readings
First Reading: Jeremiah 3:14-17
Responsorial Psalm: Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12ABCD, 13
Gospel: Matthew 13:18-23
Reflection by Pete S.