“As he said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. “

Six times in the telling of the parable of the seeds, Jesus urged His followers to listen. He said it so emphatically that we cannot hear this parable read without asking ourselves:

“Where am I in this story? Where do I fall - - among the rocks, the thorns or fertile furrows?”

In truth, there are no easy answers to that question. At different times, we’re scattered all over the place, aren’t we? There are days when we’re too tired to pray or to listen. Days when the cares or pleasures of this world are too much with us. Days when we want to shout, “Speak louder, Lord. I can’t hear you.” It’s so easy to waiver from that uncompromisingly straight line that Jesus called a furrow, especially in contemporary society.

The field of dreams that was America the Beautiful has become fertile soil for a weed known as secular humanism. Much of society has abandoned its sense of right and wrong, good and evil, truth and falsehood. We no longer speak of sin, but rather, ”lifestyle choices.” Parents demand the right to kill their babies. Children bring guns to school. And news broadcasts carry warnings that “Parental Discretion is Advised.”

Where do we draw the line?

In a survey conducted by an insurance company, people age 18-34 were asked, “Are there absolute standards for morals and ethics, or does everything depend on the situation?” Seventy-nine percent of the survey respondents said standards do not exist and that the situation should always dictate behavior.

Just for laughs, comedian Jay Leno, the talk show host, stopped people on the streets of Manhattan and asked them to recite the 10 Commandments. Most of them didn’t have a clue. But it’s hardly a laughing matter.

Secular humanism preaches a gospel devoid of any fixed standards; it is more concerned with the here and now than with the hereafter. But, in today’s Gospel, we’re reminded that we will be held to a standard that is as straight and true as the furrow in a farmer’s field. When a farmer plows his field, he keeps his head up and eyes on a distant goal so as to ensure that his furrows will be straight and true. Those who look down drift toward the brambles, boulders and blight.

If our lives are to bear fruit - - if the world we pass onto our children is to be a better place - - then we must hold to the straight and narrow.

But it’’s not enough to believe in the truth; we must defend our beliefs. We must speak out on issues such as the sanctity of life, family values and decency in TV programming. When we enter a voting booth, we must vote according to our conscience.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus said the seeds that fell in the good soil were the ones who with an “honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience.”