LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Worries, Riches and Pleasures
"The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature" (Luke 8:14).
The parable of the sower shows four types of soil, figures of four types of hearts on which the word of God falls. The word -the seed- is the same that all four receive, but its fate depends on the state of the soil - which is the state of man's heart.
The third of these hearts is the heart spoken of in this verse. These are hearts that received the word, therefore, they are saved people. However, the problem with them is that they do not bear fruit.
The causes of their infertility are threefold: cares, riches and pleasures. How many Christians today are in this condition? No century has offered so much to man, as the present one, to exacerbate cares, riches and pleasures.
As the present state of things progresses, and according to the direction the world is going, it seems extremely difficult for the Christian to escape these "thorns". It will take a daily and merciful intervention of God to escape from this powerful influx and its consequences.
The cares grow when the market economy takes root, with a cruel competitiveness, which forces man to study and absorbing work. The cares increase, in an attempt to satisfy needs that do not exist, encouraged with a variety of products that are within reach "to make man happy".
Riches invite man to seek them, because they are synonymous with success, intelligence and power. Many rich people may not love riches per se, but they seek them for what they represent.
Pleasures, like siren songs, are difficult to resist, especially if they are intended to fill the terrible existential void that afflicts the entire human race. When the Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman, this was the problem he was solving with her. To such a woman, sensual and unsatisfied, there was only one way left, the one the Lord offered her, because all the others she had tried had failed.
These three words seem to describe the world in which we live. Our Lord's tremendous capacity for synthesis sums up in them the whole drama of our times. What to do? Christians will have to draw on all their spiritual resources to win this battle - a daily battle without quarter. May God have mercy!