"When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to him, he spoke in a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up" (Luke 8:4-5). This is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as the sower of the seed. It is the Lord who is planting the seed so that all mankind might be saved.
Unfortunately for this group, the seed of faith does not grow.
They are carried away by every kind of strange teaching and are taken away to another master.
These are people who had heard the word of God but because of the many lures of the world, they easily fall into sin. "Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture" (Luke 8:6).
This group heard the word of God but does not have a foundation. They simply wither and die because their faith was not planted on fertile ground.
Psalms 1:1-3 says, "Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers. Rather, the law of the Lord is their joy; God's law they study day and night. They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season; Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers".
This is key and why people wither because of lack of moisture. Hosea 4:6 tells us that God warns that his people perish because of the lack of knowledge. They do not understand their faith. This is the mission of deepertruth, to know our faith and to spread our faith. "Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew and choked it" (Luke 8:7).
Some who embraced the Lord and his Church fall away because of persecution, some become bitter and cannot forgive others because of terrible atrocities.This group allows their faith to be chocked off through bitterness. Finally, Jesus gives us this group; "And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold" (Luke 8:8).
This is the faithful Catholic who strives to live a holy life. To study and know the word of God. Jesus explains the meaning of the parable.
"The seed is the word of God. Those on the path are the ones who have heard, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of trial. As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit. But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance." (Luke 8:11-15).
Jesus stresses this idea of perseverance saying, "But the one who perseveres to the very end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13).This totally destroys the false doctrine of "Once Saved, Always Saved" which is a man made doctrine developed by men who fell away from the Catholic Faith.
There are many denominations that have arisen as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
By 1900, there were nearly 1900 Protestant denominations, today there are over 42,000 denominations world wide.
There are about 170 new ones founded every year. Many of them range far and wide from each other. Many of them are more of a Non-denomination flavor that might be a small group comprised of family members.
Some of them are large groups that have large auditoriums with a large stage with lights and band. A lot of these groups do boast of having a large number of fallen away Catholics.
Former Catholics as a group are the second largest group in the United States. Anti-Catholics parade around these former Catholics like a trophy.
Little do they know that this offends our Lord very much.
Jesus wants to receive all these people to himself,but the turn away from him by leaving the Catholic Church.St. James states, "My brothers, if anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone bring him back, he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:19-20).
Jesus would leave the 99 to go find the one who has gone astray. We are called to out and gather them and bring them home to the table of plenty.
All Catholics should be homeward bound!
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