On the Grain of Wheat

Taken from Medulla S. Thomae Aquinatis which arranges various short texts from St. Thomas Aquinas' corpus based on the liturgical year. I will be posting the day's meditation each day and will be bringing it into print once I'm through it.

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Saturday after Ash Wednesday

On the Grain of Wheat

Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (John 12:24)

I. It should be noted that we use a grain of wheat either for bread or as a seed. We should understand that the wheat is taken as a seed, and not as the wheat used for bread, for in the latter case it would never grow and bear fruit. He says, die, not because it loses its strength, but because it is then changed into something else: what you sow does not come to life unless it dies (1 Cor 15:36).

Now just as the word of God, so far as it is clothed in a sound that can be heard, is a seed planted in a person’s soul to produce the fruit of good works, the seed is the word of God (Luke 8:11), so the Word of God, clothed in flesh, is a seed sent into the world to bring forth a great harvest; thus it is also compared to a grain of mustard s