God’s Kingdom and the Springtime!

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Ex 16:1-5, 9-15; Mt 13:1-9

Today’s Gospel compares the Kingdom of God to the springtime in nature. 

There is something special and unique about the parable of the sower. It is not only a nature parable but also a parable that symbolizes the growth and abundance of the Kingdom of God. 

In giving us the parable of the sower, Jesus lets us imagine that sowing always happens in the spring, which is a time or season of growth and development. It is when the land is usually kept ready to benefit from the conducive and clement weather. Hence, the parable of the sower indicates that the time is ripe for the seeds to sprout, grow, and bear fruit. 

Now when Jesus extends the parable to explain the nature of God’s Kingdom, he signifies that the springtime reality is very true of God’s Kingdom, where there will be only growth and flourishing, dispelling death and decay. 

Just like the land, the Kingdom is alive and organic to help the seeds realize their full potential so that they might give fruits in thirty, sixty, and hundred folds. Just as the seeds that fall on the good soil will find their life and strength, anyone who becomes part of the Kingdom will be privileged with God’s grace to produce fruits in abundance. In this way, the parable of the sower represents the ‘abundance nature’ of the Kingdom.

Since the Kingdom of God is compared to the springtime in nature, accepting or becoming part of God’s Kingdom is to believe in the new life and new beginnings. Just as the spring season is known as a time of preparation for the land, the acceptance of the Kingdom calls for repentance and renewal. In this way, we find Jesus communicating a profound spiritual insight through an ordinary example from farming. 

Jesus’ words symbolize that in the Kingdom of God, it is always spring. 

Let us pray for the grace to embrace the truth about God’s Kingdom and produce fruits in abundance. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar