The Sower and the Seed

                  15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

      

Today’s first reading is clearly an introduction to the famous parable recounted in today’s gospel account of the sower and the seed. Isaiah compares the word of God to the rain and snow that make everything blossom and grow. Without this moisture which comes down from above there would be no life on earth. Obviously Isaiah is talking about much more than rain and snow. For him the word of God is more real and more important than the rain and snow.

 

      My word shall not return to me void,

      But shall do my will,

      Achieving the end for which I sent it.

 

In today’s parable Jesus shares Isaiah’s view. He even quotes from Isaiah. The parable of the sower and the seed is one of the most famous but it is also the only one which Jesus bothers to explain to his puzzled disciples. In Matthew’s account the seed, that is, the word of God, falls in different places with different results. Some falls on the hardened, trodden down path and is quickly eaten by the birds. Some falls on rocky ground where there is little soil to nourish it. Some falls among thorns or weeds which choke it. Finally, the rest falls on good soil and produces a bountiful harvest.

 

What is the meaning of this parable? After telling His disciples why He uses parables, Jesus then explains to them the meaning of this one. Let’s try to put His explanation in our own words. In the first place, He equates the seed sown in the path with those who hear the word of God without understanding it. Who could that be?

 

How many people today have only the most rudimentary knowledge of their own faith? For how many of us does our religious education stop with the eighth grade? Is there any other field of endeavor in which we would be content to stay at the eighth grade level? What would we think of a job application where the candidate’s schooling stopped at the eighth grade? Why do we spend thousands of dollars trying to get a college degree? What professional athlete would be content with eighth grade skills? Even when they make the pros they have to keep acquiring new skills in order to remain competitive. Why should life be any different? 

 

The second case of the rocky ground is more difficult. We all know of people whose faith has been shaken and even lost by some setback, some sorrow, and even some tragedy. Our Lord speaks of tribulation. But today, how many people have lost their faith because of a bad marriage or a divorce? How many have lost it because of some word spoken by an insensitive priest or religious? How many have lost their faith because of the scandalous behavior of a few priests? Finally, it is so sad to see the death or illness of a loved one cause someone to question their beliefs.

 

We don’t have to work too hard to understand the third category. 

 

      The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,

      But then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word

      And it bears no fruit.

 

Worldly anxiety is something we can all relate to. It requires no dramatic event or crisis. It creeps up on us slowly and before we know it we are in its grasp. Young people know how important it is to have friends, but often the desire to be popular and well-liked can take over and ruin their lives. We all know that it is important for us to work hard in order to provide for the basic needs of our families, but how often do we see men and women so consumed by their work that their families are seriously hurt in the process of getting ahead? Even the elderly can fall into a daily routine that chokes them like the thorns in today’s gospel.

 

Life is full of snares and traps. Maybe that is what St. Paul had in mind in today’s reading from the Letter to the Romans.

 

      for creation was made subject to futility,

      not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it. 

 

There is no denying that there is pain and suffering in the world. Paul continually urges his followers to remain steadfast in their beliefs and not to turn their backs on God, or ignore the teaching of his Son, Jesus. As in any endeavor there is a reward for perseverance.

 

      I consider that the sufferings of the present time are as nothing

      Compared with the glory to be revealed.

 

The seed, the grace of God, has been given to us all. It is not just the saints and martyrs who have borne fruit. They are just the tip of a huge iceberg. God’s grace is not a pious fiction. Despite all the pain and suffering in the world today, we just have to look around us to see in a multitude of acts of kindness, generosity, and unselfish charity the bountiful harvest that the seed of God is still producing.

 

###

Reading 1. Isaiah 55: 10-11

Reading II. Romans 8:18-23

Gospel. Matthew 13: 1-23 (A sower went out to sow). 

The Good Samaritan

                   15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  C cycle

 

 

      

There is an old legal maxim that ignorance of the law is no defense. Maybe that comes from today's reading from the book of Deuteronomy. Moses tells the people that they can't be ignorant of the law because it is built into their very being. "For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote  for you....it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts..."

 

Let's face it. Even if our religious education stopped after grade school, we know that it is wrong to kill, or steal, or lie, or commit adultery. We don't have to be a theologian, or a lawyer, or an intellectual to figure it out. In fact, it often seems that the more education we have, the more we try to deny or explain away the fundamental truth that lies in our hearts.

 

Today's gospel is the famous parable of the "Good Samaritan." In all of literature only the story of the Prodigal Son is more well known than this one, and yet here it is presented to us as the centerpiece of our liturgy on an ordinary summer Sunday in Ordinary time. Why did our Lord use parables or stories? 

 

Let me tell a joke to make a point. Two string beans were crossing the street when one of them was hit by a car. An ambulance came and took both of them to the hospital. A few hours later the doctor came out of the operating room and told the bean that he had good news and bad news. "What's the good news?" "Your friend is going to make it," the doctor said. "What's the bad news?" "He'll be a vegetable!" ...I'm sure that most of you will remember this story much longer than the rest of this homily. Isn't it true that a well told story will not only have more of immediate impact but also it will remain in our memories much longer. After all, no one took notes while Jesus was talking but his stories were told and retold by his followers.

 

Jesus is prompted to tell the parable after a student of the Law tested Him by asking, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asks him how the law of Moses answers the question. In reply, the man repeats the "Shema" that prayer that every Jew knew by heart and which every one of us would do well to memorize and repeat every day.

 

      You shall love the Lord, your God,

      with all your heart,

      with all your being,

      with all your strength,

      and with all your mind,

      and your neighbor as yourself.

 

 

After Jesus commends his answer, the man asks, "who is my neighbor." Rather than giving a theological or philosophical lecture, Jesus answers with the story about the man who was beaten and stripped by robbers and left for dead on the road to Jericho. A priest and a Levite pass him by without lending a hand. They even cross to the opposite side of the road to avoid the stricken man. Both of them had to know in their hearts that the Law commanded assistance to the needy.

 

It was left for the Samaritan to take pity on the man. Now Samaritans were Jews who had intermarried with foreigners and had contaminated their religion with idol worship. They were viewed by the Jews as heretics and idolaters and regarded with hatred and contempt. Nevertheless, our Lord says that a "Samaritan traveler...was moved with compassion" at the sight of the man. Commentators tell us that this is the only instance in the gospels where the verb which means "moved with compassion" is used for anyone besides Jesus. The Samaritan when he dresses the man's wounds and takes him to a nearby inn to care for him, is acting like Jesus.

 

Of course, when Jesus asks the lawyer, "Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" his answer is the same as ours would be. "The one who treated him with mercy." What other answer could there be? This law is ingrained in all of our hearts even though we all have difficulty in obeying the true impulses of our hearts.

 

In today's second reading St. Paul says the Jesus "is the image of the invisible God." For St. Paul, and for Moses, and for the "Good Samaritan" God is not a distant, invisible, unattainable being. We do not have to look "up in the sky" or far "across the sea" to find Him. We can find Him in the words, and in the deeds, and in the simple, but unforgettable, parables of Jesus.

###

Reading 1. Deuteronomy 30: 10-14

Reading II. Colossians 1: 15-20

Gospel. Luke 10: 25-37 (The Good Samaritan.)

Calling Apostles

                   15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  B cycle

 

 

When we hear of prophets we usually think of them as kind of mystical foretellers of the future. However, the special talent of the prophets we encounter in scripture was their ability to describe with sometimes brutal accuracy the wrongs of their own day and call for repentance and renewal. 

 

For the most part, the prophets we encounter in scripture claimed no special gifts or talents. Last week we saw that the Prophet Ezekiel claimed that despite his own weakness or lack of ability, the Lord had called him to carry out a mission. In our first reading today, the Prophet Amos says much the same thing. He claims that he is not a prophet and that he does not even have the learning or background to be one.

 

I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores,

The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me,

Go, prophesy to my people Israel.

 

In other words, Amos was just a simple, ordinary man no different from anyone else.          

 

In today’s gospel we see Our Lord entrusting a bunch of simple, ordinary men with a mission. Today’s gospel reading from Mark picks up right where we left off last week. We recall that after performing many healings and miracles in a neighboring region, Jesus returned home only to meet a doubtful reception from his own people. He was led to say that a “prophet is not without honor except in his own country.”

 

Nevertheless, Jesus commissions the Apostles to embark on a mission in the same way as Ezekiel and Amos. They wouldn’t need book learning or years in a seminary. They wouldn’t need a lot of money or equipment. 

 

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey

But a walking stick—

No food, no sack, no money in their belts.  

 

His authority would be all they needed to perform the same works that He had done. So, without any special training or experience they set out to do His work. We are told that like the prophets of old they preached repentance, drove out many demons, and “anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”

 

When we hear of these first Apostles, we must always put ourselves in their shoes or sandals. We speak of our bishops as being successors of the Apostles, but we are all successors of the Apostles in our own little way. But how are we to be apostles or prophets with our own limited time and abilities?

 

I knew a young widow he told me about all that she was doing to care for and raise her young daughter. It was truly admirable. Nevertheless, she wished that she had more time to devote to God’s work, or to spend more time in prayer and devotion. I think I did right to tell her that when she cared for her daughter, she was indeed doing God’s work, the work she had been chosen to do. Her prayers were the words she said to her daughter. So many times in the gospel Jesus directs our attention away from himself, and asks us to care for those entrusted to our care. His one commandment was to love one another.

 

In today’s second reading, St. Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians, the young Christian community in the city of Ephesus, with a long introduction that seems to indicate that they are all apostles. He writes,

 

In him you also, who have heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

which is the first installment of our inheritance

toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory. 

 

Even though we are simple, ordinary people involved in the mundane tasks of life, these same mundane tasks have been elevated or consecrated through the sacrifice of Jesus and the sanctification of his Holy Spirit.

 ###

Reading 1.  Amos 7: 12-15

Reading II. Ephesians 1: 3-14

Gospel. Mark 6: 7-13 (Jesus Summoned the Twelve)

The Sower

                  15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

      

Today’s first reading is clearly an introduction to the famous parable recounted in today’s gospel account of the sower and the seed. Isaiah compares the word of God to the rain and snow that make everything blossom and grow. Without this moisture which comes down from above there would be no life on earth. Obviously Isaiah is talking about much more than rain and snow. For him the word of God is more real and more important than the rain and snow.

 

      My word shall not return to me void,

      But shall do my will,

      Achieving the end for which I sent it.

 

In today’s parable Jesus shares Isaiah’s view. He even quotes from Isaiah. The parable of the sower and the seed is one of the most famous but it is also the only one which Jesus bothers to explain to his puzzled disciples. In Matthew’s account the seed, that is, the word of God, falls in different places with different results. Some falls on the hardened, trodden down path and is quickly eaten by the birds. Some falls on rocky ground where there is little soil to nourish it. Some falls among thorns or weeds which choke it. Finally, the rest falls on good soil and produces a bountiful harvest.

 

What is the meaning of this parable? After telling His disciples why He uses parables, Jesus then explains to them the meaning of this one. Let’s try to put His explanation in our own words. In the first place, He equates the seed sown in the path with those who hear the word of God without understanding it. Who could that be?

 

How many people today have only the most rudimentary knowledge of their own faith? For how many of us does our religious education stop with the eighth grade? Is there any other field of endeavor in which we would be content to stay at the eighth grade level? What would we think of a job application where the candidate’s schooling stopped at the eighth grade? Why do we spend thousands of dollars trying to get a college degree? What professional athlete would be content with eighth grade skills? Even when they make the pros they have to keep acquiring new skills in order to remain competitive. Why should life be any different? 

 

The second case of the rocky ground is more difficult. We all know of people whose faith has been shaken and even lost by some setback, some sorrow, and even some tragedy. Our Lord speaks of tribulation. But today, how many people have lost their faith because of a bad marriage or a divorce? How many have lost it because of some word spoken by an insensitive priest or religious? How many have lost their faith because of the scandalous behavior of a few priests? Finally, it is so sad to see the death or illness of a loved one cause someone to question their beliefs.

 

We don’t have to work too hard to understand the third category. 

 

      The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,

      But then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word

      And it bears no fruit.

 

Worldly anxiety is something we can all relate to. It requires no dramatic event or crisis. It creeps up on us slowly and before we know it we are in its grasp. Young people know how important it is to have friends, but often the desire to be popular and well-liked can take over and ruin their lives. We all know that it is important for us to work hard in order to provide for the basic needs of our families, but how often do we see men and women so consumed by their work that their families are seriously hurt in the process of getting ahead? Even the elderly can fall into a daily routine that chokes them like the thorns in today’s gospel.

 

Life is full of snares and traps. Maybe that is what St. Paul had in mind in today’s reading from the Letter to the Romans.

 

      for creation was made subject to futility,

      not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it. 

 

There is no denying that there is pain and suffering in the world. Paul continually urges his followers to remain steadfast in their beliefs and not to turn their backs on God, or ignore the teaching of his Son, Jesus. As in any endeavor there is a reward for perseverance.

 

      I consider that the sufferings of the present time are as nothing

      Compared with the glory to be revealed.

 

The seed, the grace of God, has been given to us all. It is not just the saints and martyrs who have borne fruit. They are just the tip of a huge iceberg. God’s grace is not a pious fiction. Despite all the pain and suffering in the world today, we just have to look around us to see in a multitude of acts of kindness, generosity, and unselfish charity the bountiful harvest that the seed of God is still producing.

 

###

Reading 1. Isaiah 55: 10-11

Reading II. Romans 8:18-23

Gospel. Matthew 13: 1-23 (A sower went out to sow).

The Good Samaritan

                   15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  C cycle

 

There is an old legal maxim that ignorance of the law is no defense. Maybe that comes from today's reading from the book of Deuteronomy. Moses tells the people that they can't be ignorant of the law because it is built into their very being. "For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote  for you....it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts..."

 

Let's face it. Even if our religious education stopped after grade school, we know that it is wrong to kill, or steal, or lie, or commit adultery. We don't have to be a theologian, or a lawyer, or an intellectual to figure it out. In fact, it often seems that the more education we have, the more we try to deny or explain away the fundamental truth that lies in our hearts.

 

Today's gospel is the famous parable of the "Good Samaritan." In all of literature only the story of the Prodigal Son is more well known than this one, and yet here it is presented to us as the centerpiece of our liturgy on an ordinary summer Sunday in Ordinary time. Why did our Lord use parables or stories? 

 

Let me tell a joke to make a point. Two string beans were crossing the street when one of them was hit by a car. An ambulance came and took both of them to the hospital. A few hours later the doctor came out of the operating room and told the bean that he had good news and bad news. "What's the good news?" "Your friend is going to make it," the doctor said. "What's the bad news?" "He'll be a vegetable!" ...I'm sure that most of you will remember this story much longer than the rest of this homily. Isn't it true that a well told story will not only have more of immediate impact but also it will remain in our memories much longer. After all, no one took notes while Jesus was talking but his stories were told and retold by his followers.

 

Jesus is prompted to tell the parable after a student of the Law tested Him by asking, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asks him how the law of Moses answers the question. In reply, the man repeats the "Shema" that prayer that every Jew knew by heart and which every one of us would do well to memorize and repeat every day.

 

      You shall love the Lord, your God,

      with all your heart,

      with all your being,

      with all your strength,

      and with all your mind,

      and your neighbor as yourself.

 

 

After Jesus commends his answer, the man asks, "who is my neighbor." Rather than giving a theological or philosophical lecture, Jesus answers with the story about the man who was beaten and stripped by robbers and left for dead on the road to Jericho. A priest and a Levite pass him by without lending a hand. They even cross to the opposite side of the road to avoid the stricken man. Both of them had to know in their hearts that the Law commanded assistance to the needy.

 

It was left for the Samaritan to take pity on the man. Now Samaritans were Jews who had intermarried with foreigners and had contaminated their religion with idol worship. They were viewed by the Jews as heretics and idolaters and regarded with hatred and contempt. Nevertheless, our Lord says that a "Samaritan traveler...was moved with compassion" at the sight of the man. Commentators tell us that this is the only instance in the gospels where the verb which means "moved with compassion" is used for anyone besides Jesus. The Samaritan when he dresses the man's wounds and takes him to a nearby inn to care for him, is acting like Jesus.

 

Of course, when Jesus asks the lawyer, "Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" his answer is the same as ours would be. "The one who treated him with mercy." What other answer could there be? This law is ingrained in all of our hearts even though we all have difficulty in obeying the true impulses of our hearts.

 

In today's second reading St. Paul says the Jesus "is the image of the invisible God." For St. Paul, and for Moses, and for the "Good Samaritan" God is not a distant, invisible, unattainable being. We do not have to look "up in the sky" or far "across the sea" to find Him. We can find Him in the words, and in the deeds, and in the simple, unforgettable parables of Jesus.

###

Reading 1. Deuteronomy 30: 10-14

Reading II. Colossians 1: 15-20

Gospel. Luke 10: 25-37 (The Good Samaritan.)

The Good Samaritan

                                    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                                  

            

There is an old legal maxim that ignorance of the law is no defense. Maybe that comes from today's reading from the book of Deuteronomy. Moses tells the people that they can't be ignorant of the law because it is built into their very being. "For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote  for you....it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts..."

Let's face it. Even if our religious education stopped after grade school, we know that it is wrong to kill, or steal, or lie, or commit adultery. We don't have to be a theologian, or a lawyer, or an intellectual to figure it out. In fact, it often seems that the more education we have, the more we try to deny or explain away the fundamental truth that lies in our hearts.

Today's gospel is the famous parable of the "Good Samaritan." In all of literature only the story of the Prodigal Son is more well known than this one, and yet here it is presented to us as the centerpiece of our liturgy on an ordinary summer Sunday in Ordinary time. Why did our Lord use parables or stories? 

Let me tell a joke to make a point. Two string beans were crossing the street when one of them was hit by a car. An ambulance came and took both of them to the hospital. A few hours later the doctor came out of the operating room and told the bean that he had good news and bad news. "What's the good news?" "Your friend is going to make it," the doctor said. "What's the bad news?" "He'll be a vegetable!" ...I'm sure that most of you will remember this story much longer than the rest of this homily. Isn't it true that a well told story will not only have more of immediate impact but also it will remain in our memories much longer. After all, no one took notes while Jesus was talking but his stories were told and retold by his followers.

Jesus is prompted to tell the parable after a student of the Law tested Him by asking, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asks him how the law of Moses answers the question. In reply, the man repeats the "Shema" that prayer that every Jew knew by heart and which every one of us would do well to memorize and repeat every day.

            You shall love the Lord, your God,

            with all your heart,

            with all your being,

            with all your strength,

            and with all your mind,

            and your neighbor as yourself.

After Jesus commends his answer, the man asks, "who is my neighbor." Rather than giving a theological or philosophical lecture, Jesus answers with the story about the man who was beaten and stripped by robbers and left for dead on the road to Jericho. A priest and a Levite pass him by without lending a hand. They even cross to the opposite side of the road to avoid the stricken man. Both of them had to know in their hearts that the Law commanded assistance to the needy.

It was left for the Samaritan to take pity on the man. Now Samaritans were Jews who had intermarried with foreigners and had contaminated their religion with idol worship. They were viewed by the Jews as heretics and idolaters and regarded with hatred and contempt. Nevertheless, our Lord says that a "Samaritan traveler...was moved with compassion" at the sight of the man. Commentators tell us that this is the only instance in the gospels where the verb which means "moved with compassion" is used for anyone besides Jesus. The Samaritan when he dresses the man's wounds and takes him to a nearby inn to care for him, is acting like Jesus.

Of course, when Jesus asks the lawyer, "Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" his answer is the same as ours would be. "The one who treated him with mercy." What other answer could there be? This law is ingrained in all of our hearts even though we all have difficulty in obeying the true impulses of our hearts.

In today's second reading St. Paul says the Jesus "is the image of the invisible God." For St. Paul, and for Moses, and for the "Good Samaritan" God is not a distant, invisible, unattainable being. We do not have to look "up in the sky" or far "across the sea" to find Him. We can find Him in the words, and in the deeds, and in the simple, but unforgettable, parables of Jesus.

###

Reading 1. Deuteronomy 30: 10-14

Reading II. Colossians 1: 15-20

Gospel. Luke 10: 25-37 (The Good Samaritan.)

The Little Way

                           15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                         

When we hear of prophets we usually think of them as kind of mystical foretellers of the future. However, the special talent of the prophets we encounter in scripture was their ability to describe with sometimes brutal accuracy the wrongs of their own day and call for repentance and renewal.

For the most part, the prophets we encounter in scripture claimed no special gifts or talents. Last week we saw that the Prophet Ezekiel claimed that despite his own weakness or lack of ability, the Lord had called him to carry out a mission. In our first reading today, the Prophet Amos says much the same thing. He claims that he is not a prophet and that he does not even have the learning or background to be one.

I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores,

The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me,

Go, prophesy to my people Israel.

In other words, Amos was just a simple, ordinary man no different from anyone else.             

In today’s gospel we see Our Lord entrusting a bunch of simple, ordinary men with a mission. Today’s gospel reading from Mark picks up right where we left off last week. We recall that after performing many healings and miracles in a neighboring region, Jesus returned home only to meet a doubtful reception from his own people. He was led to say that a “prophet is not without honor except in his own country.”

Nevertheless, Jesus commissions the Apostles to embark on a mission in the same way as Ezekiel and Amos. They wouldn’t need book learning or years in a seminary. They wouldn’t need a lot of money or equipment.

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey

But a walking stick—

No food, no sack, no money in their belts. 

His authority would be all they needed to perform the same works that He had done. So, without any special training or experience they set out to do His work. We are told that like the prophets of old they preached repentance, drove out many demons, and “anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”

When we hear of these first Apostles, we must always put ourselves in their shoes or sandals. We speak of our bishops as being successors of the Apostles, but we are all successors of the Apostles in our own little way. But how are we to be apostles or prophets with our own limited time and abilities?

I knew a young widow he told me about all that she was doing to care for and raise her young daughter. It was truly admirable. Nevertheless, she wished that she had more time to devote to God’s work, or to spend more time in prayer and devotion. I think I did right to tell her that when she cared for her daughter, she was indeed doing God’s work, the work she had been chosen to do. Her prayers were the words she said to her daughter. So many times in the gospel Jesus directs our attention away from himself, and asks us to care for those entrusted to our care. His one commandment was to love one another.

In today’s second reading, St. Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians, that is the young Christian community in the city of Ephesus, with a long introduction that seems to indicate that they are all apostles. He writes,

In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.

Even though we are simple, ordinary people involved in the mundane tasks of life, these same mundane tasks have been elevated or consecrated through the sacrifice of Jesus and the sanctification of his Holy Spirit. 

###

Reading 1.  Amos 7: 12-15

Reading II. Ephesians 1: 3-14

Gospel. Mark 6: 7-13 (Jesus Summoned the Twelve)