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Good morning pater my question is γιατί ο κόσμος χάνει την πίστη του..γιατη χάνει την self-respect του..
Answer to Question 487 Good morning, your question reminded me of yesterday’s Gospel reading in Church. The reading was the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8: 5-15). With this Parable Christ separates those who hear the Word of God into four categories: In the first group are those who resemble the seed that fell on the road, which was trodden on by passers by and was then eaten by the fowls of the air. The Lord tells us that these are those that hear; but then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. The seed in this group is lost because it remains only on the surface. It cannot be sown deep, because the ground it falls on is hard and barren. These are the men who are hardhearted. There is no room in their hearts for love, humility or any relationship with God. They have no interest in God or his will. Their only interest is what others think of them. That is why the Lord says they are blind and deaf. Their hearts are trodden down and made hard from wicked thoughts, pride, selfishness, lies, hatred, greediness and other sinful passions which occupy the space of their hearts with no room to accept the word of God’s grace. If by chance they hear anything spiritual it remained on the surface because it cannot find room in the heart. The seed is easily seen by the fowls of the air who swoop down to devour it. The fowls of the air are the devil and his demons who always interfere in the lives of men with the aim of preventing their salvation. Through their devious ways they come and steal away the word of God.
The second group of men are those which the Lord likens to the seed that fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. The Lord tells us that these are those who when they hear, they receive the word with joy; and for a while believe, but because they have no root, and because of temptations, they fall away. This group is similar to the first, but with a difference. Notice that it says that the seed sprung up, but then withered away, in other words they believed for a while, but didn’t have enough faith to overcome the temptations of life. This was because their heart was as hard as rock without love for anyone else. They never saw their neighbour as their brother, neither were they troubled by anyone’s pain and suffering. As with the first group their only concern was accumulating worldly wealth and enjoying the pleasures of life. How can the seed enter and take root on this ground of rock? How can the word of God enter and take root in hearts so hard and foreign to heavenly things? In the beginning there is some interest in spiritual matters, but this is very superficial and soon forgotten when faced with the choice of the narrow road of self sacrifice for the kingdom of God or the easy and wide road of worldly passions.
In the third group are people who resemble the seed that fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked it. Of these the Lord says that when they have heard the word of God, they then go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. This group of people accept with enthusiasm the word of God concerning his kingdom. But their main concern is how to accumulate wealth, the pleasures of life, the praise of men and in general everything that is of this world. These all become passions which choke and cover the good seed, the Grace of the Holy Spirit, and do not allow the Spiritual fruits to grow. Although similar to the two previous groups there is a clear distinction between them. With the first two groups the seed either didn't take root or it took root, but very soon after withered. In this group the seed has taken root, it has grown somewhat, but is choked and covered by other things which don't allow it to grow as it should and bring forth fruit. But because it hasn't withered away then with some care it can be helped and be made healthy by pulling out the thorns that are choking it. In spiritual terms the person can with repentance and confession and spiritual guidance slowly pull out the passions that are keeping him from spiritual progress and cultivate his heart so that it becomes a good fertile field bringing forth healthy wheat.
In the fourth and last group are the people who resemble the seed that fell on good and fertile land free from thorns and weeds and was therefore capable of bearing fruit a hundredfold more than the seed that was originally sown. These are the souls that live, work, eat, drink and sustain themselves like all people, but above all things their main interest is gaining the Kingdom of God. That is why they struggle to increase the divine Grace they received as a small seed when they were baptized. They preserve within them God's gift, the spiritual seed, the life giving word of the Gospel. They battle against the worldly idea of what life should be, they root out the passions and every enemy and obstacle that comes between them and salvation with the purpose of allowing the Grace of the Holy Spirit to prevail and reign in their hearts. They do not care about external appearances and worldly success. Their main work and concern is spiritual and deep down in the depths of their hearts like the seed that is buried in the earth. Whatever good they do, they don't publicise it, but with humility they bury it that it might bring forth much fruit. From mere words they proceed to works. They endure the various temptations that come their way and face them with patience, humility, with thanks and glorifying God so that they can become partakers in the life of Christ. With spiritual cultivation, with fasting, prayer, love and the Holy Sacraments, the spiritual ground brings forth its fruit and the person becomes a new man in Jesus Christ. In Matthew and Mark it say that the good seed brought forth, some thirty fold, some sixty fold and some a hundred fold. In other words everyone who receives the word and believes brings forth fruit according to the effort and struggle he has made, but God accepts the thirty fold as he accepts the hundred fold, because the end result is that they all heard the word of God and through their struggles they brought forth fruit.
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