The Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church in Scottsdale shared the Rev. Bryan Buenger's reflection in today's church bulletin. 

The reflection, entitled Forming the Flock, focused on Jesus' parable of the seeds falling on various types of soil. As we grow older, our ability to communicate becomes more mature and, as time passes, communication becomes more complicated, making clear communication more difficult at times. 

“We still have trouble getting our meaning across from one person to the next due to interference – not just electronic interference, but language differences, physical and emotional barriers, and just by the fact that we are each individuals with our own history that forms how we see and interpret the things of this world, including interpersonal communication,” Buenger wrote. 

Fr. Bryan | https://bscaz.org/

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches the parable of the sower, the message being that we should all strive for better communication and willingness to listen and convey ideas with grace and mercy.

“The message about the kingdom is the same; no differences among the seeds are noted,” Buenger wrote. “But the result in each case is very different depending upon how the message is received. Of course, Jesus wants us to be like good soil in which the seed can bear abundant fruit – that’s an easy message to get. But we are also sowers – we broadcast the seeds each and every time we represent ourselves to others.”

We must ensure that when we are sharing God’s word with those who might be wayward or outside of the church, that we do not allow our message to be diminished by the winds that come up and can confuse the seeds. 

“As such, how we sow is as important as what we sow,” Buenger wrote. “And that is our Christian mission: to sow the seeds of the Gospel to everyone we meet, and to do so with as little outside interference as possible.”

Jesus’ teaching, Bryan explained, is not a matter of personal interpretation, rather it is up to us to take his words and apply them to our lives so that we can be faithful servants of him.