ACC ~ Matthew 13 v4

ALONG THE PATH

ANONYMOUS: “Some seeds fell by the path.” What is this path? It is the world into which all are born and pass through. It is a path, a pilgrimage and a passing to all who come from God and hasten to God. As the prophet said, “I am your passing guest, a sojourner, like all my fathers.” [1] So even as the wayfarer is not concerned about anything along the way except for what he really needs, so too humans in their passage through the world must not be concerned about anything except for that which they really need. What is found along the path? People living according to this world, who know everything that is of the world and nothing that is of God. But day and night their minds and appetites are concerned with eating well and drinking well and cultivating the sordidness of the body. From these things all evils arise. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 31. [2]

[1] Ps 39:12 (38:12 LXX).

[2] PG 56:792.

THE BIRDS CAME AND DEVOURED THEM

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Let us look, as from a broader perspective, at what it means to be on the road. In a way, every road is hardened and foolish on account of the fact that it lies beneath everyone’s feet. No kind of seed finds there enough depth of soil for a covering. Instead, it lies on the surface and is ready to be snatched up by the birds that come by. Therefore those who have in themselves a mind hardened and, as it were, packed tight do not receive the divine seed but become a well-trodden way for the unclean spirits. These are what is here meant by “the birds of the heaven.” But “heaven” we understand to mean this air, in which the spirits of wickedness move about, by whom, again, the good seed is snatched up and destroyed. Then what are those upon the rock? They are those people who do not take much care of the faith they have in themselves. They have not set their minds to understand the touchstone of the mystery. [1] The reverence these people have toward God is shallow and rootless. It is in times of ease and fair weather that they practice Christianity, when it involves none of the painful trials of winter. They will not preserve their faith in this way, if in times of tumultuous persecution their soul is not prepared for the struggle. FRAGMENT 168. [2]

[1] Of communion with Christ.

[2] MKGK 207-8.