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| Alessandro Serenelli, who murdered Maria Goretti, venerates her whom he called "my little Saint" |
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time,
Year A
July 10th, 2011
Matthew 13:1-23
A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed,
some seed fell on the path, […] some fell on rocky ground, […] some seed fell among thorns, […] but some see fell on rich soil, and
produced fruit.
As we consider
the parable of the sower, we should recognize the incredible generosity of God
in offering his grace so freely. When a farmer plants seed, he would never
simply scatter it to and fro, on good and poor ground alike. But God is
different from man – he is so generous and loving – and he sends his grace upon
all types of people: Not just upon the good soil, but upon the rocky, hard, and
thorny soil as well.
This is the
essence of the parable: It is not so much that we become good and holy and then
God loves us – as though the sower only sowed seed upon the good soil. Rather,
while we were yet sinners, God loved us and sent his grace upon us. And, what
is more, as we continue to strive for holiness and find (all too often) that we
fall – God still raises us up and supports us.
God does not
say, “Become a saint, then I’ll love you.” Rather, he says, “See how much I
love you, now let me help you become a
saint!”
As I think about
this parable, I am reminded of the story of St. Maria Goretti, the
virgin-martyr of modern Italy, whose feast day the Church celebrated last week.
St. Maria Goretti, if you recall, was a young Italian girl who – at the age of
only eleven years – suffered a most terrible death.
Maria and her
family lived in a housing complex together with a young man (who was, himself,
not much more than a boy; only about 18 years old) named Alessandro Serenelli.
Now, one day, Alessandro attacked Maria Goretti, with the intention of abusing
her.
Maria resisted
him and said: “No, don’t do it. It is a sin!” You see, even in that terrible
moment, she was thinking more about Alessandro’s soul than about herself. She
resisted mostly because she did not want Alessandro to commit a mortal sin and
so risk his salvation. How greatly did little Maria Goretti love even her
enemies!
When Maria
resisted his force, Alessandro stabbed her several times with a knife and then
left her to die. As Maria was rushed to the hospital, she was praying for
Alessandro and she insisted that her family forgive him. She underwent a
terrible surgery, without any anesthesia, and then she died.
Alessandro was
arrested and tried for murder. He was convicted, but was spared the death penalty
because he was so young. Sentenced to thirty years in prison, Alessandro seemed
to be bad soil indeed – certainly, everyone thought that he wasn’t worth their
prayers or forgiveness.
But as
Alessandro was taken away and incarcerated, something wonderful was being
prepared in heaven.
After a few
years, when Alessandro was asleep, Maria Goretti appeared to her murder in a
dream and let him know that she had forgiven him and that, now that she was in
heaven, she was praying earnestly for him. Alessandro saw Maria sending down lilies
upon him, from the Blessed Virgin Mary.
He was amazed.
How could she love him so much?! After all he had done to her, Maria Goretti
was spending her heaven praying for his conversion! And this is where the story
really begins to get good.
Alessandro
experienced an intense conversion while still in the prison. He realized that God
still loved him and that the grace of God was sufficient for him. Though he had
done a terrible thing, though he was bad and rocky soil, filled with thorns;
still, God loved him and was pouring even more graces upon him. And the proof
of God’s love was the love of little Maria.
When the time
came for Alessandro to be released from prison, he went and begged forgiveness
from Maria Goretti’s family. Then, he did something that I don’t think any one
of us would have expected: He became a monk! This murder, this lost soul, now
entered religious life and spent the rest of his life on earth as a brother.
Alessandro
called Maria Goretti, “My little Saint.” He had learned how to love her in
truth and purity. He had a great devotion to her and, wonder of wonders, was
able to be present at her canonization Mass when the Venerable Pope Pius XII
officially declaired Maria Goretti a saint.
There at St.
Peter’s Basilica, sitting in the front, were Assunta Goretti (Mari Goretti’s
mother) and Alessandro Serenelli (her murder).
How easy it is
for God to take what was once bad soil and make it into rich soil which will
bear good fruit!
And here we find
a little challenge for ourselves as well. It certainly encouraging to recognize
the infinite riches of God’s mercy, but we must also imitate that love. It will
not due for us to say: “Well, sure, I’ll forgive my enemies, but first they
have to prove they’re worthy of my forgiveness.” No! That’s not how God works!
We must be merciful just as our Father in heaven is merciful.
Likewise, we
cannot say: “Well, I’ll compromise with my neighbor, but first he has to give a
little.” No! That’s not how God works! We have to sow the seed of mercy and
love even in the bad soil. We have to stretch and give of ourselves for the
good of others, even when they don’t deserve it.
Finally, we are
challenged in another way when we recognize that we are called always and
everywhere to spread the seed of the Gospel – that is, we have to preach the
truth! Far too often today, we are afraid and we are cowards. We don’t stand up
for what is right and we don’t challenge people to live the Gospel.
We make all
sorts of excuses: “They’re not ready to receive it yet,” we say. “I can’t force
my views on them.” No! Your job is to preach the truth, to sow the seed – let God
give the growth. You speak the Gospel and God will due the rest.
When we think
that others aren’t ready to hear the truth, we are often despairing of their
salvation. It is like we are saying that they are such terrible soil that we
ought not to waste our time sowing the seed of truth in them. This will not
due!
Now, I am not
saying that we should be “Bible-thumpers” or that we should be rude – of course
not! Truth must be united with charity, and charity with truth. But, in today’s
world, we Catholics need to learn to be a lot more bold – Courage!
Receive the seed
of God’s word into your heart. Let it germinate there in good soil. Trust
always that God will bring forth in you the great fruit of life everlasting.
