Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (13: 1-9) in which Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables about the secrets of the Kingdom.Fr Paul says, like any good teacher, Jesus uses pictures or, in this case, parables. In the Gospel we hear today, we are shown what Jesus is trying to do.This parable can sometimes be read in a sad way.  Whatever the sower, whatever Jesus, seems to do seems to fail – the birds, the sun, the thistles – but some of the seed does bear a fantastic harvest. For us, as we listen to this Gospel, if we reflect on our own lives: what are the pecking birds? What is the scorching sun? What are the choking thistles? In other words, what are the things that destroy the seed that God has sown in my life?Mindful of this question, Fr Paul says, we also ask ourselves, ‘What can I show the Lord that has grown and developed  into a fantastic harvest in my life?’