Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, July 12, 2020 as the 15th Sunday of ordinary time, year A. The Entrance Antiphon of this day’s Holy Mass says: “In my justice I shall see your face, O Lord; when your glory appears, my joy will be full. Amen.”
The principal message of this day’s Holy Mass is that the Church must preach the Word of God, in season and out of season, whether it is in fashion, or out of fashion, whether she is listened to or not. It is about this Word of God that the readings of this day speak. God’s Word itself is a guarantee that the promise of liberation is to be accomplished. As rain makes the seeds in the earth germinate, so the Word of God produces fruits of freedom in the faithful. That is why God’s Word never comes back empty. Our Lord, in Matthew’s Gospel, compares God’s Word to a seed that bears fruit according to the response of those who hear it. In the second reading, Saint Paul tells his Roman converts that as God’s children, they have become true brothers of Christ and heirs to God’s glory. Through baptism, we become, not only sharers of Christ’ sufferings, but also partakers of his glory. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace to become the good soil on which God’s word finds firm roots.
First Reading: Isaiah 55: 10-11.
Thus says the Lord: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
The African Bible tells me that Isaiah is the greatest of the prophets, being born in about 765 BC into an aristocratic family of Jerusalem. His prophetic ministry spanned over forty years and he lived and preached at a period when Israel was increasingly under threat from its more powerful neighbours, the Assyrians.
Isaiah had a deep conviction that everything was under God’s wise and powerful control, including the destinies of the mighty foreign nations that were then threatening Israel.
The passage from which our meditation is taken comes from what is usually known as Second Isaiah. The message of this section is one of consolation for an oppressed people languishing in exile. Isaiah speaks of the coming restoration of the people and their holy city Jerusalem. Here, he compares the Word of God to food and drink that are free for everyone. All it takes is to ask and they will be given you in abundance. God’s Word brings God near to us and makes of us a new people.
The words of this reading give us ample reason for our confidence in God’s divine plan for us. The power of God’s Word is as certain as the water that provides man’s food. God’s Word is poured into man’s heart to teach him God’s ways and the certainty that God always keeps his promise to man, even when man, as it so often happens, has failed to merit this trust.
Let us pray this day for the grace to be able listen to and hear God’s Word that is usually so clearly spoken in our hearts. We pray that the Holy Spirit may continue to enlighten us and assist us so that we too can have the courage to listen to and preach God’s Word in season and out of season, whether we are listened to or not.
Let us say with the Psalmist, “Lord, you have visited our land, watered it and greatly enriched it. You have crowned the year with your bounty, and your paths overflow with a rich harvest. You are a God of compassion, a God of mercy. We shout for joy because you bless and protect us. Continue to pour your abundant blessings on our land. We make this supplication through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Second Reading: Romans 8:18-23.
Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
V/ The word of the Lord
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Saint Paul tells us in this reading that the whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons and daughters. At the end of time, God’s glory will prevail and reign, and sorrow and anguish will vanish forever. He declares that Christ’s redemption touches us through the Holy Spirit, who makes us all children of God. As God’s children in the Spirit, we become true brothers and sisters of Christ, who are bound to inherit his kingdom.
Paul tells us that this Spirit we receive continues to spur us to have hope and unshakeable confidence in the Lord. As one holy man once put it: “The action of the Holy Spirit may pass unnoticed because God does not reveal to us his plans, and because man’s sin obscures the divine gifts. But faith tells us that God is always acting. He has created us and maintains us in existence, and he is leading all creation by his grace towards the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
What does this reading tell me? It tells me that God our Father gives us what is best for us and expects us to discover his fatherly love in all circumstances of our lives. But, more often than not, when we find ourselves in difficult conditions, we fail to see God in our lives; we fail to take and hold to God’s redemptive hand being stretched out to us.
Let us pray for the courage to always turn to God at all times – good or bad – because our God is a compassionate God, who never abandons anyone who runs to him for help.
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23.
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear."
V/ The Gospel of the Lord
R/ Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ
Comment
Today’s Gospel marks the beginning of the third long discourse Jesus gives in Matthew’s Gospel. Over the next few weeks, the Gospel readings will consist of the entire 13th Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, a lengthy teaching discourse.
Throughout this discourse, Jesus will offer several parables to illustrate for his listeners what he means by the kingdom of heaven. He begins with the parable of the sower, which appears rather straightforward as seeds naturally grow best in good soil. Seeds that miss the soil, or those sown on rocky ground, or among other plants will not grow. The surprise in the parable is the enormous yield of the seed that is sown on good soil.
The parable of the sower is perhaps the most well-known of Saint Matthew’s parables. It is a beautiful story that explains the power of the Word of God at work in his Church and in the world. It describes different ways in which believers accept the Word of God.
Jesus is telling his disciples this parable at a difficult juncture in his life: he has just been thrown out of his own town of Nazareth; he has been treated as a madman at Capernaum; the Pharisees want to get rid of him, and his disciples are leaving him in droves because they believe his teachings are too difficult to follow. His whole ministry seems to be falling on deaf ears. Yet, we know that even though his Word now seems insignificant, it will slowly but surely progress and grow:
“Some seed fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them.” These are people in whom the word of God has no chance of entry because many things, especially pride and greed, block their minds. Pride makes us think that we know everything and that God’s Word has nothing new for us. But, the real reason we sometimes don’t want to hear the Word of God is because it condemns what we love. We then deliberately shut it out of our lives. We become like soil that has never been tilled or cultivated. Our hearts become hardened, like those constantly trodden paths. We hear the Word of God, but the devil easily snatches it away from us.
“Some seeds fell upon stony ground, where they had not much earth.” This stony ground represents superficial souls with little inner depth, souls that are weak and incapable of persevering. They usually have good intentions; they even receive grace with joy, but when the moment comes to confront difficulties, they turn back. They are not capable of sacrificing themselves in order to fulfill resolutions they have made so their resolutions die without bearing fruit.
“Other seeds fell on thorns and the thorns grew up and choked them.” These are people who show an excessive love of riches, a disordered ambition to gain influence or power, and excessive concern for personal well-being and comfort. The souls of such people yearn only for material and earthly things. They are obsessed with the thought of owning more and more possessions and would go to any length, including committing murder, to obtain what they want. Such people are so over-worked throughout the week as they rush after money and the material things of life that they feel too tired even to go to Church.
“Other seeds fell on good ground.” These are people who are always willing to learn and are prepared to hear the Word of God and to understand it and act on it. These are people who are never too proud or busy to hear the Word of God and to meditate on it. Then they translate this Word into action. The real Christian hears, understands, and practices the Word of God. God’s word calls for acts of charity towards the orphan, the widow and other marginalized people of our society. Those who, as Pope Francis often puts it, are living at the peripheries of our lives.
What lesson can we take home from this Gospel reading? The lesson is given to us by Saint John Chrysostom, who says that the only thing that matters is that our hearts must not be that path from which the enemy, like the birds, snatches the seed trodden underfoot by passers-by. Our hearts must not be the rocky ground where the shallowness of the soil causes the seed to germinate immediately so that it is scorched by the sun. Our hearts must not be the thistle-bed of human passions strangled by the cares of the world. Let our souls be the good soil that is ready to receive God’s grace. And how can we prepare our souls to be the good soil that receives the Word of God? Through a frequent confession where we get rid of any bad weed that prevents us from hearing and keeping and practicing the Word of God.
Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see the necessity for a frequent confession where we cleanse our souls of the traces of sin and make them the rich soil on which Christ’s word of salvation can germinate, grow and bear fruit. We make our supplication through Jesus Christ the risen Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
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