Miss Clara, a fourth-grade Catechism teacher told her kids one day: Children, let me tell you today about a quiet man, who used to be immersed into much reading and writing. This man was big and gentle, but because he stayed silent, people thought he wasn’t very smart.
One day, his friends played a trick on him. As he was busy writing, one of them pointed to the window and shouted, ‘Look, there’s an angel!’ He ran to see, but there was nothing there. Everyone laughed.”
The Dumb Ox
But do you know how he responded? Miss Clara continued, “He said, ‘I’d rather believe there was an angel than think my friends would lie.’ He didn’t fight back nor get angry. He didn’t care if people laughed at him or thought he was slow.
He only cared about doing what God wanted him to do. People often teased him, calling him as ‘The Dumb Ox,’ but his mentor had so much confidence in him that he said, ‘This ox will one day roar so loud, that the whole world will hear him.’ And that’s exactly what happened! Her voice softened as she continued, That quiet man was St. Thomas Aquinas. He is today one of the greatest saints in the Church.
God Plants Seeds Everywhere
Friends, if we are being honest, today’s Gospel, the Parable of the Sower, usually feels like a divine gardening tutorial we have sat through a dozen times. We tend to focus on the dirt: "Am I the rocky path? Am I the thorns?" But today, on the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, I want us to look not at the mud, but at the Audacity of the Sower.
Thomas Aquinas was a man of massive intellect, they called him the "Dumb Ox" because he was quiet. But inside that quiet frame was a mind that realized something profound: God is a extravagant scatterer of truth. He believed that the seeds of God's wisdom are everywhere, even in places where we think nothing can grow.
Think about the Sower’s technique. From a modern efficiency standpoint, this guy is a disaster. He’s throwing expensive seeds on a paved road? In the middle of a bramble patch? Any venture capitalist would pull his funding in a heartbeat. But this is the "New Perspective" of the Kingdom: God is not a precision sniper; He is a reckless romantic. He wastes His love on people who aren't ready for it. He pours His grace into hearts He knows might reject Him by Tuesday.
Marvelous Persistence
There is a beautiful story about the poet and philosopher Dante, who was deeply influenced by Aquinas. It is said that once, while lost in thought in a busy marketplace, he found a book he had been seeking. He sat on a bench on a street and read it for hours, completely oblivious to a rowdy festival happening right behind him. The ‘seed’ of that book fell into the soil of his mind, and nothing, not the noise, not the "thorns" of the crowd, could distract him.
Today, let’s stop judging the quality of our dirt. Instead, let’s marvel at the Sower’s persistence. He is still out there, throwing handfuls of light into the dark corners of our life. He isn't waiting for us to be "perfect soil" before He starts planting. He plants in the middle of our mess, our doubt, and our distracted Wednesday afternoons.
May we have the "holy inefficiency" of the Sower, to love without counting the cost, and to listen for the rustle of the harvest in the most unlikely places.
- Today’s Readings
- Father Boby's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Consider inviting others to join, too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
