Reflecting on the Parable of the Sower, Pope Francis yesterday encouraged parents not to give in to “fashions” of the world and to continue to sow goodness and faith in their children. Source: CNA.
In his Angelus address, the Pope explained that, “if the word is the seed, we are the soil: We can receive it or not. But Jesus, the ‘good sower,’ does not tire of sowing it generously”.
“He knows our terrain, he knows that the stones of our inconstancy and the thorns of our vices can suffocate the word, yet he hopes, he always hopes, that we can bear abundant fruit,” he said.
The faithful are also called to “sow tirelessly”, the Pope said, giving three examples of how to do this.
First, he stressed that parents “sow goodness and faith in their children, and they are called to do so without being discouraged even if at times they seem not to understand or to appreciate their teachings, or if the mentality of the world is against them”.
“The good seed remains,” he continued. “This is what counts, and it will take root in due time. But if, giving in to mistrust, they give up sowing and leave their children at the mercy of fashions and mobile phones, without dedicating time to them, without educating them, then the fertile soil will be filled with weeds.”
Francis then addressed young people and explained that they “can sow the Gospel in the furrows of everyday life,” as in prayer, “a small seed that you cannot see, but with which you entrust everything you live to Jesus, and so he can make it ripen.”
Finally, he spoke of the “sowers of the Gospel” — priests, religious, and laypeople who are “engaged in proclamation” — “who live and preach the word of God often without immediate success.”
“Let us never forget, when we proclaim the word, that even where it seems that nothing is happening, in reality the Holy Spirit is at work, and the kingdom of God is already growing, through and beyond our efforts,” he said.
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At Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis asks parents to sow faith in their children (By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú, CNA)
