The Gardener and the Soil

Reflection for July 12, 2026 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the sower and explains that the Word of God is like a seed that must fall on fertile soil. Find the daily reading here.

I began writing this piece by googling “how do you make soil fertile?” which should tell you everything you need to know about my own abilities as a gardener.

I remember seeing a packet of seeds in the store one summer as a child and convincing my mother to buy them. They were delphiniums, which bloom into a beautiful cone shape if you know what you’re doing. Alas, I didn’t. I chose for my garden a particularly dry spot of earth right next to my backyard playset, scattered the seeds, congratulated myself, and went on my merry way. I returned occasionally to water the area, but only when I remembered to.

Nothing grew, not even a little sprout. I was more than heartbroken — my faith was shaken. I had planted these seeds! I had watered them! (A little.) There was sunlight! All my childhood books and rhymes said this was all you needed. Was it all a lie?

Of course it wasn’t a lie. Seeds need soil, sunlight, water, and oxygen — good soil, adequate sunlight for whatever the plant is, and consistent water.

So what seeds need more than anything is a gardener. (At least, delphiniums do.)

When I hear the parable of the rich soil and the rocky ground in the Gospel of Matthew, I often miss the point. I think Jesus is trying to give me a message about how I should be. “Be better.” That’s what I think he’s telling me.

I forget that I am only the soil. I cannot enrich myself; all my efforts to do so will come to nothing. What he is telling me is to ask the gardener: “Make me what I need to be.”

©LPi