[26] He said,"This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land [27] and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. [28] Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. [29] And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come."
(CCC 543 Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations (Cf. Mt 8:11 10:5-7; 28:19). To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word: The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest (LG 5; cf. Mk 4:14, 26-29; Lk 12:32). (CCC 1228) Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the "imperishable seed" of the Word of God produces its life-giving effect (1 Pet 1:23; cf. Eph 5:26). St. Augustine says of Baptism: "The word is brought to the material element, and it becomes a sacrament" (St. Augustine, In Jo. ev. 80, 3: PL 35, 1840).
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