The sower went out to sow

"Jesus said 'A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.' As he said this, he called out, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.' And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, 'To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.Now the parable is this:  The seed is the word of God.  The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.'" (Luke 8: 5-15) 

Dr. Mona Ebeid wrote in Al-Macarrat, Issue No. 906, 2010:

Luke presents the above Parable differently from Matthew and Mark. His style presents a more brief and unified account. We find "three" symbolic elements in his writing that insist on action.

He uses the verb "Go out" 

1. The sower; 2. went out; 3. to sow his seed,

This style is a teaching yet communicative style that aims to attract the attention of the listener and invites him to understand the depth of the divine word and to apply it in a practical way.

In interpreting this parable two more "threes" resemble those of Mark with some difference. The first difference with Mark is that Mark emphasizes the danger on the word while as we find the emphasis of danger in Luke is on the human person.

The seed that fell among thorns represents the situation of those who do not yield fruit because a chain of dangers in life threatens them:

1. Anxieties

2. Riches 

3. Pleasures

The brief words in Luke carry three wider symbols:

1. Not only the anxieties of the world, but the anxiety of life in this world in the absolute sense with all of its matters, preoccupation, and confusion.

2. Not only the desire to be rich, but material richness in itself and in all its forms.

3. Not only pleasures of this world, but all desires that long for living in pleasure only.

As for the seed that fell in the good soil, it represents those who: 

1. listen to the word (with a good heart);

2. and keep it;

3. and become fruitful (in perseverance).

So Luke did not present the symbolic meaning of the infinite quantity of fruits as Mark did, but presented rather the quality of fruits as "perseverance" has a three-pronged approach

1. Confirmation in the word of God,

2. Continuous efforts to live in the every divine grace,

3. Patience before the challenges that cannot be escaped.

Reference:

M. Cocagnac, Les Symboles Bibliques, Paris, 1999, L'agriculture divine, 102-105.

St. John Chrysostom on the Resurrection of Christ

If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived therefor. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; he gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour.

And he shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one he gives, and upon the other he bestows gifts. And he both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering. Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day. Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it. By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions. It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains. It took a body, and met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.

O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.

St. Augustine: Commentary on the Parable of the Good Samaritan

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho;  Adam himself is meant; Jerusalem is the heavenly city of peace, from whose blessedness Adam fell; Jericho means the moon, and signifies our mortality, because it is born, waxes, wanes, an dies. Thieves are the devil and his angels. Who stripped him, namely; of his immortality; and beat him, by persuading him to sin; and left him half-dead, because in so far as man can understand and know God, he lives, but in so far as he is wasted and oppressed by sin, he is dead; he is therefore called half-dead.  The priest and the Levite who saw him and passed by, signify the priesthood and ministry of the Old Testament which could profit nothing for salvation. Samaritan means Guardian, and therefore the Lord Himself is signified by this name. Thebinding of the wounds is the restraint of sin. Oil is the comfort of good hope; wine the exhortation to work with fervent spirit. The beast is the flesh in which He deigned to come to us. The being set upon the beast is belief in the incarnation of Christ. The inn is the Church, where travelers returning to their heavenly country are refreshed after pilgrimage. The morrow is after the resurrection of the Lord. The two pence are either the two precepts of love, or the promise of this life and of that which is to come. The innkeeper is the Apostle. The supererogatory payment is either his counsel of celibacy, or the fact that he worked with his own hands lest he should be a burden to any of the weaker brethren when the Gospel was new, though it was lawful for him “to live by the gospel”

Why Biblical Scholarship in Church is Important

Proper Biblical scholarship within the Tradition of the Catholic Church is important to avoid two extremes in interpretation of the Biblical text. The first extreme insists on a literalist reading and interpretation of sacred scripture regardless of advances in scientific research. For example, certain fundamentalist Christian sects insist that the entire cosmos was created in 6 days. Others calculate the age of the cosmos to be some 6,000 - 7,000 years based on the written stories in the Bible and the genealogy of humans and their descendants from Adam to Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago.
The second extreme is the free interpretation of the sacred text while demythologizing it from any miracles such as the widely known views of Bultmann in the first part of the 20th century or the subsequent extreme views adopted by members of "The Jesus Seminar." See Joseph Ratzinger's lecture "Biblical Interpretation in Crisis" in January 1988 here:
http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/ratzinger/biblical-crisis.htm

Thus the Pontifical Biblical Commission published its document "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church" in 1994 which remains a guide to Catholic Biblical scholars today. See it at http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/pbcinter.htm

With that in mind, the most authoritative contemporary document on the Bible comes from the fathers of the Second Vatican Council in the document Dei verbum. This document needs to be studied before any other document since it lays down the framework of understanding the development of doctrine in the Tradition of the Catholic Church. See it here:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html