|
2011년 7월 10일 연중 제15주일
제1독서
이사야서. 55,10-11
주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.
10 “비와 눈은 하늘에서 내려와 그리로 돌아가지 않고, 오히려 땅을 적시어 기름지게 하고 싹이 돋아나게 하여, 씨 뿌리는 사람에게 씨앗을 주고, 먹는 이에게 양식을 준다. 11 이처럼 내 입에서 나가는 나의 말도 나에게 헛되이 돌아오지 않고, 반드시 내가 뜻하는 바를 이루며, 내가 내린 사명을 완수하고야 만다.”
제2독서
로마서. 8,18-23
형제 여러분, 18 장차 우리에게 계시될 영광에 견주면, 지금 이 시대에 우리가 겪는 고난은 아무것도 아니라고 생각합니다.
19 사실 피조물은 하느님의 자녀들이 나타나기를 간절히 기다리고 있습니다. 20 피조물이 허무의 지배 아래 든 것은 자의가 아니라 그렇게 하신 분의 뜻이었습니다. 그러나 그것은 희망을 간직하고 있습니다. 21 피조물도 멸망의 종살이에서 해방되어, 하느님의 자녀들이 누리는 영광의 자유를 얻을 것입니다.
22 우리는 모든 피조물이 지금까지 다 함께 탄식하며 진통을 겪고 있음을 알고 있습니다. 23 그러나 피조물만이 아니라 성령을 첫 선물로 받은 우리 자신도 하느님의 자녀가 되기를, 우리의 몸이 속량되기를 기다리며 속으로 탄식하고 있습니다.
복음
마태오. 13,1-23<또는 13,1-9>
1 그날 예수님께서는 집에서 나와 호숫가에 앉으셨다. 2 그러자 많은 군중이 모여들어, 예수님께서는 배에 올라앉으시고 군중은 물가에 그대로 서 있었다. 3 예수님께서 그들에게 많은 것을 비유로 말씀해 주셨다.
“자, 씨 뿌리는 사람이 씨를 뿌리러 나갔다. 4 그가 씨를 뿌리는데 어떤 것들은 길에 떨어져 새들이 와서 먹어 버렸다.
5 어떤 것들은 흙이 많지 않은 돌밭에 떨어졌다. 흙이 깊지 않아 싹은 곧 돋아났지만, 6 해가 솟아오르자 타고 말았다. 뿌리가 없어서 말라 버린 것이다.
7 또 어떤 것들은 가시덤불 속에 떨어졌는데, 가시덤불이 자라면서 숨을 막아 버렸다.
8 그러나 어떤 것들은 좋은 땅에 떨어져 열매를 맺었는데, 어떤 것은 백 배, 어떤 것은 예순 배, 어떤 것은 서른 배가 되었다.
9 귀 있는 사람은 들어라.”
<10 제자들이 예수님께 다가와, “왜 저 사람들에게 비유로 말씀하십니까?” 하고 물었다. 11 예수님께서 그들에게 대답하셨다.
“너희에게는 하늘 나라의 신비를 아는 것이 허락되었지만, 저 사람들에게는 허락되지 않았다. 12 사실 가진 자는 더 받아 넉넉해지고, 가진 것이 없는 자는 가진 것마저 빼앗길 것이다.
13 내가 저 사람들에게 비유로 말하는 이유는 저들이 보아도 보지 못하고 들어도 듣지 못하고 깨닫지 못하기 때문이다.
14 이렇게 하여 이사야의 예언이 저 사람들에게 이루어지는 것이다. ‘너희는 듣고 또 들어도 깨닫지 못하고 보고 또 보아도 알아보지 못하리라. 15 저 백성이 마음은 무디고 귀로는 제대로 듣지 못하며 눈은 감았기 때문이다. 이는 그들이 눈으로 보고 귀로 듣고 마음으로 깨닫고서는 돌아와, 내가 그들을 고쳐 주는 일이 없게 하려는 것이다.’
16 그러나 너희의 눈은 볼 수 있으니 행복하고, 너희의 귀는 들을 수 있으니 행복하다. 17 내가 진실로 너희에게 말한다. 많은 예언자와 의인이 너희가 보는 것을 보고자 갈망하였지만 보지 못하였고, 너희가 듣는 것을 듣고자 갈망하였지만 듣지 못하였다.
18 그러니 너희는 씨 뿌리는 사람의 비유를 새겨들어라. 19 누구든지 하늘 나라에 관한 말을 듣고 깨닫지 못하면, 악한 자가 와서 그 마음에 뿌려진 것을 빼앗아 간다. 길에 뿌려진 씨는 바로 그러한 사람이다.
20 돌밭에 뿌려진 씨는 이러한 사람이다. 그는 말씀을 들으면 곧 기쁘게 받는다. 21 그러나 그 사람 안에 뿌리가 없어서 오래가지 못한다. 그래서 말씀 때문에 환난이나 박해가 일어나면 그는 곧 걸려 넘어지고 만다.
22 가시덤불 속에 뿌려진 씨는 이러한 사람이다. 그는 말씀을 듣기는 하지만, 세상 걱정과 재물의 유혹이 그 말씀의 숨을 막아 버려 열매를 맺지 못한다.
23 좋은 땅에 뿌려진 씨는 이러한 사람이다. 그는 말씀을 듣고 깨닫는다. 그런 사람은 열매를 맺는데, 어떤 사람은 백 배, 어떤 사람은 예순 배, 어떤 사람은 서른 배를 낸다.”>
July 10, 2011
Fifteenth Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Reading 1
Is 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.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (Lk 8:8) The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
You have visited the land and watered it;
greatly have you enriched it.
God’s watercourses are filled;
you have prepared the grain.
R. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
Thus have you prepared the land: drenching its furrows,
breaking up its clods,
Softening it with showers,
blessing its yield.
R. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
You have crowned the year with your bounty,
and your paths overflow with a rich harvest;
The untilled meadows overflow with it,
and rejoicing clothes the hills.
R. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
The fields are garmented with flocks
and the valleys blanketed with grain.
They shout and sing for joy.
R. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
Reading II
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 firstfruits of the Spirit,
we also groan within ourselves
as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Gospel
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.”
The disciples approached him and said,
“Why do you speak to them in parables?”
He said to them in reply,
“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because
they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.
Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted,
and I heal them.
“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
“Hear then the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one
who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it,
and the evil one comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
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.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
PRE-PRAYERING
The readings for our liturgy of this week invite us to a sense of fertility and fruitfulness. We of the earth are rained upon by God’s gracious showers of holy life. The Showerer and the Seeder are the same, providing the earth and our earthliness the assistance to grow from dirt-level to the heaven-heights.
We pray to receive grace as the crops drink in the nourishing rains. We bathe in God’s love as do flowers soak in the warmth of the sun. We pray to live generously the fruitful life of giving life, sustaining life, and caring for life in all its forms, from earliest beginnings to latest endings.
REFLECTION
We have for our First Reading a poetic section from the final chapter of The Book of Consolation also known as Second Isaiah. This chapter opens with the famous verses about the invitation to “come to the water all you who are thirsty.” The fifteen chapters of this Book or section deal with God’s bringing Israel back to life within a new covenant. The infertility of their past infidelities are forgiven and something “new” will be brought forth.
The prophet pictures the faithful God as the One Who sends a relationship as the clouds send the rain. This faithful rain will give life to God’s people as do the rains give life to the crops. Fruitfulness of the fields was always a sign of God’s blessing. The prophet uses a familiar agricultural image to remind the people that God is the giver of all things and God’s work is the holiness of the people.
There is a soft hint here of the promise made by God at the time of Noah, that there would be no more flooding and no more turning away by God from God’s creation. In this poem, God is saying simply that God will never give up on the earth and the people, and all will return to the loving embrace of the Sender.
In the next several weeks we will be hearing parables. These are easy-to-remember stories which can have several interpretations. They are meant to catch the attention of the listeners and are invitations to the listeners to find their places in the stories.
Fortunately, Jesus gives a rather clear and pointed explanation of the parable after relating the parable itself. This takes the pressure off the homilist and perhaps this writer as well. The image is familiar to us. The person who sows the seed and the various types of soil which receive the seeds are presented simply. The soil produces according to its quality of depth.
Jesus has a very good interpretation of the parable to which I agree totally. The more important part of this Gospel’s parable is about where we find ourselves. It is too easy to say that we are the soil of the “path” or the “rocky ground” or the “thorny patch”. Is there no “rich soil” for some seed to find a rooting?
I taught poetry to second-year high school students, or at least it was attempted. Their usual response was, “Why doesn’t the guy just come right out and say it?” Why doesn’t Jesus come right out and say it? The “it” here is the mystery of the kingdom and there were those who listened for insights and head-knowing, but they were not letting “it” get close, inside and permanent.
Knowledge and insights do not save. Answers invite only more questions. Parables are for those who know beyond knowledge. They hear and see beyond senses. Tribulations, persecutions, worldly fears and the desires for riches are all parts of our human soil. The Word of God, Jesus, has come to identify the soil, improve it and assist its knowing and growing.
We are in the heart of Matthew’s semester-course on Who Jesus is and who does His coming make us. We are in the school of intimacy. The closer He comes to our part of the soil the more fruitful we become and He will not leave us to ourselves. By ourselves we will whither and default to our beaten-pathness. By ourselves we will be choked by our own greed and self-centered demands.
Fruitful living is how people live under the influence of the person of Jesus. As we reflected upon in last week's liturgy, relationships change the persons in the relationship. Usually the intimacy of the relationship brings about changes which are not immediately perceived by the relaters. Others see changes and the changes are usually defined as being more alive, more spirited, more who they have always wanted to be. Ideas don’t change us much or very deeply. The influence of the significant people in our lives changes us far beyond the power of thought. God so loved the world that God did not send an idea or a book. God rained down the grace within the Person of Jesus the Word who remains until the Good Earth remembers who it is. So God did come right out and say it!
What remains is our staying attentive not to Jesus as teacher or idea-giver, but to Jesus Who desires lovingly to bring God’s goodness out of our Good Soil.
“How happy they who dwell in your house! For ever they are praising your name.” Ps. 84
http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
"Why do you speak to them in parables?"
What is the best and easiest way to help people understand God's kingdom? Like the rabbis of his time, Jesus very frequently used parables – short stories and images taken from everyday life – to convey hidden truths about the kingdom of God. Like a skillful artist, Jesus sketched memorable pictures with short and simple words. A good image can speak more loudly and clearly than many words. Jesus used the ordinary everyday illustrations of life and nature to point to another order of reality – hidden, yet visible to those who had "eyes to see" and "ears to hear". Jesus communicated with vivid illustrations which captured the imaginations of his audience more powerfully than any abstract presentation could. His parables are like buried treasure waiting to be discovered (Matthew 13:44).
What can the parable about seeds and roots teach us about the kingdom of God? Any farmer will attest to the importance of good soil for supplying nutrients for growth. And how does a plant get the necessary food and water it needs except by its roots? The scriptures frequently use the image of fruit-bearing plants or trees to convey the principle of spiritual life and death. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8; see also Psalm 1:3)
Jesus' parable of the sower is aimed at the hearers of his word. There are different ways of accepting God's word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly. There is the prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to what he or she doesn't want to hear. Then there is the shallow hearer. He or she fails to think things out or think them through; they lack depth. They may initially respond with an emotional reaction; but when it wears off their mind wanders to something else. Another type of hearer is the person who has many interests or cares, but who lacks the ability to hear or comprehend what is truly important. Such a person is too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God's word. Then there is the one whose mind is open. Such a person is at all times willing to listen and to learn. He or she is never too proud or too busy to learn. They listen in order to understand. God gives grace to those who hunger for his word that they may understand his will and have the strength to live according to it. Do you hunger for God's word?
Jesus told his disciples that not everyone would understand his parables. Did Jesus mean to say that he was deliberately confusing or hiding the meaning of his stories from his listeners? Very likely not. Jesus was speaking from experience. He was aware that some who heard his parables refused to understand them. It was not that they could not intellectually understand them, but rather, their hearts were closed to what Jesus was saying. They had already made up their minds to not believe. God can only reveal the secrets of his kingdom – that which is hidden to the spiritually blind – to those who hunger for God and humbly submit to his truth.
What can makes us ineffective or unresponsive to God's word? Preoccupation with other things can distract us from what is truly important and worthwhile. And letting our hearts and minds be consumed with material things can easily weigh us down and draw us away from the heavenly treasure that lasts for eternity. God's word can only take root in a receptive heart which is docile and ready to hear what God has to say. The parables of Jesus will enlighten us if we approach them with an open mind and heart, ready to let them challenge us. If we approach them with the conviction that we already know the answer, then we, too, may look but not see, listen but not understand. God's word can only take root in a receptive heart that is ready to believe and willing to submit. Do you submit to God's word with trust and obedience?
One lesson from this parable is clear: the harvest is sure to come. While some seed will fall by the wayside and some fall on shallow ground and never come to maturity, and some be choked to death by the thorns; nonetheless a harvest will come. The seed that falls on good soil, on the heart that is receptive, will reap abundant fruit. God is always ready to speak to each of us and to give us understanding of his word. Are you hungry for his word? And do you allow anything to keep you from submitting to God's word with joy and trusting obedience?
"Lord Jesus, faith in your word is the way to wisdom, and to ponder your divine plan is to grow in the truth. Open my eyes to your deeds, and my ears to the sound of your call, that I may understand your will for my life and live according to it".
Psalm 65:9-13
9 You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provid their grain, for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty; the tracks of your chariot drip with fatness.
12 The pastures of the wilderness drip, the hills gird themselves with joy,
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.
http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php
John Chrysostom (c. 349-407 AD) commented, “The fact that the greater part of the seed perished was not due to the sower but to the soil, that is, the mind. The Sower [Christ] made no distinction between rich and poor, wise or foolish, but spoke to all alike….” Chrysostom also noted how non-judgmental the story is. “He does not judge them openly and say, This is what the lazy received and they lost it, this is what the rich got and they choked it, this is what careless people got and they neglected it. He would not harshly reprove them, so as not to alienate them altogether.”
Another ancient commentator: “The wayside is the mind trodden and hardened by the continual passage of evil thoughts; the rock, the hardness of the self-willed mind; the good soil, the gentleness of the attentive mind.”
Look carefully at the word ‘mind’. In mediaeval! times there appeared a useful distinction between the active and the passive mind. The active is the analytical mind, the passive is the contemplative. In our age the active mind gets all the praise, and the passive or contemplative mind tends to be passed over in silence.
Passive means receptive or listening. Remember the last time you tried to have a conversation with someone who never listened? Perhaps you both talked a lot, but there was no conversation, your minds were not engaged with each other. At such times you feel more alone than when you are alone. In the total absence of the contemplative spirit, this is what the whole world would be like.
“When God undertakes the work, the mind must remain passive,” wrote Meister Eckhart. A disciple of Jesus is one who receives the seed of God's word into good soil. Soil is ‘humus’, which gives us the word ‘humility’. “God cannot work except in the ground of humility,” Eckhart continued, “for the deeper we are in humility, the more receptive to God….The more a person is sunk in the ground of true humility, the more he or she is sunk in the ground of divine being.”
‘Passive’, ‘humble’…. These are not popular words today; they are in fact counter-cultural. Men especially would be ashamed of having any of these words used of them. But try to imagine someone who had no vestige of either: he (or she) would be an embodiment of ego. But our deeper self would not be ashamed of these words. They are the language of the Beatitudes, which are like a portrait of Christ himself. This is the deeper soil from which real growth happens in us. And the seed of God's word is able to wait till the soil is right.
We are living in a deafening world. The noise of machines is sometimes hard to bear, but far more deafening is the insistence of the human voice. It is almost impossible to escape from it. Every age, no doubt, talked its full; but we have ways of storing, multiplying, amplifying, broadcasting the voice now till it fills every crevice in our lives. A new magazine was advertised as “opinionated.” This word means “thinking too highly of, or adhering persistently to, one’s opinions; conceited; obstinate in opinion; dogmatic.” How bizarre that that word should be used to advertise a magazine! How many people would like to have, say, a son-in-law who was “opinionated”? Yet it is regarded as a desirable quality in a magazine. We are in a strange place now. How will the word of God penetrate our noise? Some seed fell on tarmac, and some seed was swept away by torrents of language from DJs and advertisers….
But even so, “Your word, O Lord, for ever stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 118).
http://www.presentationministries.com/
SOW THE WORD CONSTANTLY "A farmer went out sowing." 뾏atthew 13:4 How often have you heard a Scripture passage twenty times and on the twenty-first time you hear it, the Holy Spirit makes the passage finally "jump off the page"? You receive a profound new insight into the meaning of the passage. The Word of God comes alive for you. The Holy Spirit does this work in us. The Spirit is also working the same way in the hearts of others. That's why we must constantly sow the Word of God (Mt 13:4). The Word that we sow might be that twenty-first time the Holy Spirit requires to touch a person's heart. Our sowing might be that juicy bait the Lord uses to finally catch a hungry soul He has been working on for years (see Lk 5:4). Our evangelizing might be the seed that next year will produce a harvest thirty-, sixty-, or a hundredfold (Mt 13:8). A farmer sowing seed can't see what's under the surface of the soil. A fisherman usually can't see what's under the surface of the water, though sometimes he might get a glimpse. When we evangelize for Jesus, if we go only by what we see on the surface, we might make a wrong judgment and decide not to drop a line or plant a seed. We might miss a good catch or a fruitful harvest, even in an unlikely place, if we don't try to evangelize. God spreads the seed and the water everywhere in today's readings. God never stops sowing, and He always gets results (Is 55:11). The Lord doesn't go by what is on the surface (see 1 Sm 16:7). We must do the same, and sow the Word of God in all places, even those that seem unlikely for success. Prayer: Father, I will spread Your Word at all times, whether convenient or inconvenient (2 Tm 4:2). Promise: "I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared to the glory to be revealed in us." 뾕m 8:18 Praise: Praise Jesus, Who penetrates our hearts and minds with His undying love!
http://www.judeop.org/dailyreflections.htm
http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/
Homily from Father James Gilhooley
Mark Twain wrote: "Giving up cigarettes is easy. I do it a hundred times a week." Many of us, like Twain, grow easily discouraged from one broken resolution or other. If you do, today's parable has your name on it.
When this Gospel opens, Jesus is sitting by the Lake of Galilee. He is getting a tan and much needed beach time.
Leisurely He is reading the sports pages of a week old copy of the Jerusalem Times and sipping a glass of good red wine. Suddenly out of that famous nowhere appears a huge crowd.
He springs to His feet lest He be trampled by these happy friendlies. They clamor for what they think will be an impromptu lecture. The favorite outdoor sport of the Jews was to search out distinguished rabbis and drain them dry. Intellectual gymnastics was the Jewish idea of a good time. Today was the turn of our Jesus. Good-naturedly He obliges the almost playful group.
Remember Teacher is the Gospel term used most commonly of Jesus.
Since the microphone system was poor, some of His words were being lost. The crowd was pushing Him into the lake to better hear Him. Since He had showered that AM at the Holiday Inn, He did not need another bath. So, the Teacher nimbly lifted Himself into a large fishing boat drawn up on the sand. He obviously exercised. (Do we? If not, why not?) Seated in the bow, He continued His talk.
Incidentally, when was the last time you were sitting at the beach and a large mob surrounded you? And they shouted, "O great teacher, share your wisdom with us." Do you see now the
type of Man we are lucky enough to follow? Have you sold Him short when He has so much to teach you? If yes, reconsider.
Put this point into your mental computer. Matthew says this was the first parable Jesus spoke. So, He must have
spent hours burning the midnight oil at His Sony laptop polishing it. This was to be His debut on the lecture circuit. Jesus knew one bomb and you were road kill. This is one more reason to pay this parable super attention. There is gold out there in those parable hills. We have to dig it out with some old-fashioned sweat. Even in the spiritual life, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Many others on the lecture circuit have used the parable
method, but no one has matched the Master's skills. A literary critic wrote: "He is one of the world's supreme masters of the short story." How many short stories of de Maupassant or O Henry do you remember? Yet you know all of Christ's.
This is a parable of encouragement. It was meant for the apostles and ourselves. To the twelve, the Nazarene was numero uno. He was an original. Yet they were discouraged that so few were actually buying into Him. "Master, why so much effort and so few gold rings?" His answer was this parable. (William Barclay)
Even the dullest gardener among us does not expect every single seed he sows to come up singing roses. He knows the wind will blow some seeds away. The squirrels will grow fat on others. However, even the amateur gardener keeps on sowing. And he certainly does not give up expectations of a generous growth of flowers.
Jesus tells His own troops never to throw in the towel even when one's efforts seem an exercise in futility. People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway. (Kent Keith)
Think of of John Harvard here. In 1640, he came to the American colonies from England. He was a promising scholar. The New World appeared to be his oyster. But the poor fellow upped and died after but one year. His will gave $3500 and 200 books to a fledgling university. The school became Harvard University. Today it staffs a faculty of 1000 and has a student body of 10,000. It enjoys an international reputation. (Barclay)
John Harvard's death appeared to his contemporaries to be an abomination, but it produced riches beyond anybody's imaginings.
So, this parable of the Nazarene teaches that even if much of your labor or your money seems to go for nothing, do not allow yourself to go into a downer. The ballgame may well go into extra innings. Your honorable self may prove to be as much a winner as Christ Himself. Struggle on.
We mourn that the glass is half empty. With a smile, Jesus fills up the glass. Had Mark Twain taken this parable seriously, he would have ended his nasty cigarette habit.
Homily from Father Joseph Pellegrino
http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
But are we willing to do something with it?
In the early part of the Thirteenth Century, Giovanni Franceso Bernardone was headed to a prosperous life as a cloth merchant in the Province of Umbria, Italy. He loved every sort of pleasure and was known to engage in various street brawls. But, Francis, as he preferred to be called, didn’t become a merchant. After spending a year as a military captive in nearby Perugia, Francis decided to change the course of his life, radically change the course of his life. He wanted to focus on serving God and only serving God. He saw his status as part of the rising merchant class as blocking his ability to experience Jesus Christ. He gave up his possessions and his future as a merchant, and embraced poverty. He begged for food in his native Assisi, and spent his days in prayer.
Francis attracted a few like minded companions who joined him in courting what he called Lady Poverty. One day Francis went to pray at a run down old chapel just outside of the city, the chapel of San Damiano. As he was praying before the ancient icon of the crucified Jesus, he heard a voice calling to him three times: “Francis, rebuild my Church. Francis, rebuild my Church. Francis, rebuild my Church.” Initially, Francis thought that he and his friends should rebuild the chapel of San Damiano, but as time went on, he realized that he was being called to rebuild Christ’s Church on earth.
The Chapel of San Damiano still stands outside the walls of Assisi. The cross of San Damiano was relocated to the Basilica of Santa Clara. The message that St. Francis heard is as pertinent now as it ever was, “Rebuild my Church.” The message is addressed to us.
But can we do it, can we rebuild the Kingdom of God on earth? We have everything we need. We long for it. He gives it. But are we willing to do something with it? It is there. It is there for us. There is a lot of it, or to use the biblical terminology, it is abundant. It is the Word of God. God pours His Word upon us; He drenches us with His Word as though it were a rainstorm. The Prophet Isaiah says in the first reading that this is what we need to do God’s work. He predicts that we will embrace the Everlasting Word. He prophesied that the Word of God would be embraced by people and returned to Him.
And we want it. We want the ability to do God’s will. Every fiber of our body longs to be part of his plan. St. Paul says in the second reading from the Letter to the Romans, that we groan within ourselves with the desire to have God in our lives, and with the desire to make God real in the lives of others. Anyone who is serious about her or his Christianity longs to give birth to the Kingdom. Paul uses the image of labor pains. A woman in labor experiences her whole being concentrated on giving birth. Our whole being focuses on giving birth, birth to the Kingdom. And so, we groan from our inner depths. We want to make God’s Kingdom a reality in the world.
He gives us all that we need, the Word. We long to make His Kingdom a reality, we groan in labor pains, but longing is not enough. It is not enough to come off a religious experience and say, “I want to be an integral part of Jesus Christ’s solution to the world.” It is not enough to say that, “I want to be united with Christ.” It is not enough to say, “I want others to be united to Christ.” We have to use the spiritual gift of the Word.
It is our own fault if we let other things get in the way of the Word of God. The parable in the Gospel says that sometimes the Divine Sower’s seed falls on the pathways through the fields. There is no union with the Word, it is simply there, and it is lost to the birds of the sky. Sometimes we refuse to make God’s Word the guide of our lives. We refuse to delve into what God is calling us to. We know we can learn about the Lord by studying the Bible, by praying over the scripture, by keeping a union with God, but we are just too lazy to pray. Sad, but that is what it is, sometimes we are just too lazy to pray, we don’t make time for Him, the Love of our lives, and then we become shocked that His Presence has been stolen from us by the birds of the air.
The parable then says that sometimes the see falls on rocky ground. It doesn’t develop roots. This part of the parable really cuts us to the core, because it says that the enthusiasm for the Word, the enthusiasm for the Lord, is not good enough. All those good feelings will die out with time, unless it is far more than feelings we search for. Blessed Mother Theresa wrote that she felt completely dry and abandoned by Christ throughout her life, but she never stopped proclaiming Him with her life. If nothing changes in our lives after our continual encounters with Christ, then we will reduce these spiritual experience to mere feeling.
Sometimes the seed falls among the thickets and thorns. God’s word takes root, but other things take priority in our lives. All of us have many activities and obligations. What we seem to forget is that our primary responsibility is to Jesus Christ. We have been give the Word. We cannot allow the other concerns around us choke off his Presence within us. We cannot allow ourselves to become deaf to His Call to rebuild His Church.
But there are times that through the seed falls on good soil. These are the people who care for the Presence of the Lord, who are more concerned with His Kingdom than their own emotional feelings of His Presence, these are the people who refuse to let anything the world throws at them choke off the mission they have been entrusted with by the Divine Sower.
We can be these people, you and I. We can be the people who throughout our lives are dedicated to the Kingdom of God. We can rebuild His Church.
But we need to be good soil. We have got to cultivate the presence of the Lord in our lives, and serve Him no matter whether we feel His Presence today as we did last week, last month, last year, or whenever we were given the gift of a spiritual high. We can fight off anything that will choke off His Presence. We can be this good soil that returns to the Lord fruit beyond our imagination, but not beyond His imagination.
Homily from Father Phil Bloom
http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
Bottom line: What you sow in trust today will bring a good harvest.
My name is Fr. Phillip Bloom. I am pastor of St. Mary of the Valley Parish in Monroe and I also serve as president of the Mary Bloom Center. It is a medical clinic and education center, named for my mom, that aids people in Southern Peru. I am here to thank you for your support of the Mary Bloom Center through your Faith In Action Team (F.I.A.T.). In addition, Fr. Nathe has asked me to say something about your sister-parish project in Peru.
I wish to put my presentation in the context of this Sunday's Scripture readings - not just because this is a homily, but also because today's Gospel gives us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on trust in God. Jesus tells about a sower who goes out to sow. The man tosses the seed with abandon.
You are a parish that has great needs right at home. You have many people who are feeling the effects of an uncertain and struggling economy. You have a parish school whose challenges I know only too well from my years at Holy Family in Seattle. And you do your part to respond to the needs of the Archdiocese through the Annual Catholic Appeal and the universal Church through Peter's Pence. Now you have a guy in front of you asking to take on something else - a sister parish in the Andes Mountains of Peru. You might rightly ask: How can we do it?
On a human level I do not have the answer. I can only repeat what Jesus says in the Gospel, "A sower went out to sow." He took the seed he had and cast it with abandon. He trusted the Lord, like the prophet Isaiah in the first reading: Just as rain comes down from heaven, makes it fertile and does not return void, so it is with God's Word. God calls us to make an act of trust - and leave the rest to him.*
I can assure that it is worth planting a seed in Peruvian soil. I served in Peru for seven years and have returned each year since 1994. In the last two years I took small delegations, including parishioners from Queen of Angels: Dan and Annie O'Rourke, Janet Lawler and Rodger Hardin. They can join me in testifying to the needs. When we visited homes, we observed that the children had no place to do their homework. One of the delegates suggested a project of showing them how to make lap desks. With the direction of Roger Hardin, a master carpenter from here in Port Angeles, we worked with the children to make individual lap desks as well as night stands for each family. It was a small, but lovely project. More important than the lap desks and night stands were the bonds of affection and prayer between the children and our delegates. It was like placing seeds on eager soil.
I had an experience when I was a missionary in Peru that epitomizes why you should make this connection with people in Peru. It was 1989 and I was returning home after two years in Peru. A woman approached me carrying her baby on her back. She said, "Padre, I am in a terrible situation. My husband has abandoned me. I have three other children. I don't have money to buy the older girls notebooks, pens & shoes so they can go to school. We don't have decent food or enough blankets" (the parish was 12,500 feet above sea level so it got real cold at night). She continued, "One of my girls is sick and I can't buy her medicines. I am in a terrible situation." Then she took her baby from her back and said, "Father, I know you are going to the United States. Please, take my baby."
I held that baby in my arms, a beautiful baby boy. I said to her, "Yolanda, there are so many couples in my country who would do anything to have this baby. They would give him all he could ever want materially, but it is so much better that you keep him and we will try to find a way to help you."
Thanks to the generosity of people here we were able to aid Yolanda. When I left Peru to come back to the Archdiocese in November of 1994, Yolanda and her four children came to say goodbye. It was a feeling of satisfaction to have helped her send the girls to school. It takes about $20 to buy basic school supplies - and another $30 for uniform and shoes. With some additional donations, Yolanda was able to start a small business buying and selling potatoes.
Yolanda's children of course are now grown - and I have lost track of them. But the seeds planted will bring a harvest - not only materially, but spiritually. We never simply handed things out, but always tried to see the deeper person and to spend time in prayer.
That is the great advantage of establishing a sister parish. You will not only be helping people in their material needs, but also forming a spiritual bond. God will bless you in ways that will surprise you. As you can see in bulletin, Mazo Cruz is one of the most unique parishes in the Western hemisphere. After Mass I will be happy to talk with anyone about what this bond could mean - and how it can increase in the future. I know something about Mazo Cruz because I often celebrated Mass and other sacraments there when I was stationed in Peru.
Today Jesus invites us to trust God and to trust him: A sower went out to sow. Just as rain comes down from heaven...
Your deacon, Peter Flatley, will now explain the practical details of the collection for this sister parish project. In the name of Jesus, I can assure that what you sow today with trust will bring a good harvest. Amen.
************
*In his newly released Autobiography, Mark Twain has a wonderful illustration of trust in God:
"It is not to be disputed that in matters of charity the English are by a long way the most prodigal nation in the world. Speaking of this, we now and then, at long intervals, hear incidental mention of George Müller and his orphanages; then they pass out of our minds and memories, and we think that they have passed out of the earth. But it is not so. They go on.
They have been going on for sixty years, and are as much alive to-day as ever they were. George Müller is more than ninety years old, now, but he is still at his work. He was poor when he projected his first orphanage for the sustenance of half a dozen waifs; since then he has collected and spent six or seven millions of dollars in his kindly work, and is as poor to-day as he was when he started.
He has built five great orphanages; in them he clothes and teaches and feeds two thousand children at a cost of a hundred thousand dollars a year, and England furnishes the money—not through solicitation, nor advertising, nor any kind of prodding, but by distinctly voluntary contributions. When money runs short Müller prays—not publicly but privately—and his treasury is replenished.
In sixty years his orphans have not gone to bed unfed a single day; and yet many a time they have come within fifteen minutes of it. The names of the contributors are not revealed; no lists are published; no glory is to be gained by contributing; yet every day in the year the day's necessary requirement of three or four hundred dollars arrives in the till. These splendid facts strain belief; but they are true" (p. 116-17). (Quoted by Mike Wittner)
Homily from Father Andrew M. Greeley
http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
Background:
We now have returned after a long hiatus to our year long reading of St. Matthew's Gospel. Today's Gospel continues a theme we have heard often in June - there is no reason to be afraid. God loves us, Jesus loves us, we are of infinite worth because of that love.
Nothing, no threats, no evil tongues, no sickness, no failures, no disasters can separate us from that love. It is one thing of course to profess this faith, which we can easily do, trippingly on our lips and another thing to live that way.
In today's Gospel Jesus offers us the possibility of the joy and happiness which comes from taking his promises seriously.
Story:
Once upon a time back in the last century there was a young woman from Ireland who had lost her parents and all her family. Some kind people wrote to their relatives in America and said we have this fourteen year old orphan here who is very bright and very pretty and very hard working, We don't want her to go to the orphanage because she won't have any opportunities there to develop her talents. Would you eve consider hiring her as a servant girl. You'd have to pay her way over on the boat, but she'll work for nothing until she earns her fare. You won't go wrong with her.
So the Americans who could afford a serving girl, but never had one and weren't altogether sure what they would do with such a person talked about it and said, well, what do we have to lose. So they sent the fare for the boat and the train. And waited for the young woman to come. She sailed from Kinsale. The last she saw of Ireland were the twin spires of the church as they faded into the background.
Weeks later, sick and thin and exhausted, she arrived in the city where her master and mistress lived. They took one look at the poor child and said, Dear, we don't need a servant, but we have room for another daughter. When they brought her home the other children hugged her and said, hooray! We have another sister. With their help she grew up to go to college and university and become very successful and was a great credit to those who took her into their family.
So has God invited all of us into His family.
Homily from Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe,Pa
http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/homilies/index.lasso
Gospel Summary
This parable about the sower of seeds is the first of seven parables that Matthew placed in the center of his gospel. Each of the parables adds a specific dimension to the reality that Matthew has described in the previous two chapters: although there are disciples who have begun to believe in him, Jesus is experiencing much rejection. In the parable, the sower goes out and sows a great amount of seed. For various reasons much of the seed does not come to fruition. However, some of the seed that fell on rich soil produces an extraordinary amount of fruit.
The disciples then ask Jesus why he speaks in parables. Jesus, quoting a prophecy of Isaiah, enigmatically replies that parables both reveal and conceal the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Many, even though they hear the words of a parable, refuse to recognize the voice of divine wisdom calling them to conversion of heart and to healing.
Matthew concludes this section by having Jesus amplify the parable of the sower by transforming the meaning of the seed from the word which initiates life in the kingdom, to the person who is called to life in the kingdom. Some persons hear the word without understanding its deeper meaning; some receive it, but fall away when tribulation comes; some hear it, but worldly anxiety and greed choke off the life it gives; some hear the word, understand it, and bear an extraordinary amount of fruit.
Life Implications
Jesus tells us the good news that the seeds of God's kingdom have been abundantly sown everywhere in the world. Despite all the violence and despair that threaten us, we can live in hope. God's kingdom has already come, will continue to grow, and will ultimately triumph. Henry David Thoreau remarked: "Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders."
The human-divine mystery of God's kingdom means that we cannot grasp its meaning as we do the realities of this world. It is only in the humble attitude of prayer that we may receive the gift of faith's understanding and conversion of heart. " . . . although you [Father] have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike" (Mt 11:25).
Jesus warns us that even if we have heard his word, worldly anxiety or greed can destroy our Christian life. Today, in our celebration of the Eucharist we pray that the Spirit will grant us faithful perseverance in living according to Christ's word so that God's kingdom will flourish beyond measure.
Homily from Father Cusick
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In today's gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter thirteen, verses one to twenty-three, our Lord recommends that we study and understand our faith, that we persevere in the times we've lost enthusiasm and that we practice detachment from the things of this world in preference to the gospel.
Whenever we read the scriptures, and in particular the gospels, we should be attentive to the practical direction they have for us. The gospels are unlike any other literature in the history of the world. They are unique because in them the Word of God, Jesus Christ Himself, speaks to us and instructs us. Because He knows each of us intimately, His love for us is the perfect answer to our needs. But we will not grow in the good and joyful life of Christ if the gospel can find no place in us. When the scriptures are proclaimed in the liturgy we can be "good soil" for the sowing of God's word if we put aside distractions and recognize that it is the most important moment of the week; the one in which the living God speaks to each of us in a perfect way. But if we are rocky ground, with little depth, or a patch of thorns, with little or no time or attention, the Word will not take root. The Catechism teaches: "Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not enough; deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What use has he made of the talents he has received? Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to 'know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.' For those who stay 'outside,' everything remains enigmatic." (CCC 546) Just like the tantalizing waters of a pool in hot weather, you will never know the joy and refreshment of Christ unless you jump into the life of His Church with both feet and commit yourself to the Truth. - Fr. Cusick (Publish with permission.)
Homily from Father Alex McAllister SDS
http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
The marvellous Parable of the Sower is unusual in that Jesus gives quite a full explanation of it. Normally Jesus leaves the people to work things out for themselves and lets them take what they can from his parables. They often work on a number of different levels and people are able to draw their own conclusions, after all this is the very nature of a parable and why they are such an effective teaching tool.
This parable is, however, about hearing. It is about those who hear the Word of God which is represented by the seed. But it is also about those who don’t hear; those who for whatever reason don’t plant the seed of the Word of God in their hearts.
It is vital to understand that our God is a God who speaks. Unlike the idols worshipped in other religions we believe in the Living God and by definition he is a God who speaks. Right from the beginning of creation he shows himself to be a God with something to say. He communicates with Adam and Eve, with Noah, with Abraham, Moses and the Prophets.
He explains his plans, issues instructions and commandments, he corrects error, he demonstrates justice and mercy; he reveals his true nature.
And he speaks to us. He speaks to us through the words of Jesus his Son. When the scriptures are proclaimed in Church we use the formulas: ‘The Word of the Lord’ or ‘The Gospel of the Lord’ to help us to understand that God is speaking directly to us through the words of the scriptures.
Nevertheless, people continuously fail to hear Christ’s message of love. They did so in his own day and they do so today. This is partly what the message of the Parable of the Sower is all about.
People don’t want to hear the Word of God because it demands a response from them. It means they have to react, to change their lives. Many people therefore choose instead not to hear it or not to accept it, or to crowd it out with other more worldly concerns. But of course, this too is a response and it is basically a rejection.
This reaction is a fundamental refusal to listen to God. This is ‘looking without seeing, listening without hearing or understanding’. This refusal to engage with our creator God is a deep rejection of him and what he has to say.
And sadly this is something that is more and more evident in our society. It is not only the militant so-called new atheists who reject God, but the millions and millions who fail to open their ears to his message. They’d rather wash the car or go shopping or engage in destructive behaviours.
But for us who are attentive to it the Word of God is a treasure house full of gems. It is an Aladdin’s Cave of delights. Meditating and thinking over the simple but powerful words of Jesus in the scriptures gives us immense satisfaction and contentment.
Sure they are a challenge and sometimes they test us to the very limits but by accepting them and enshrining them in our hearts we grow in the knowledge and love of our great and wonderful God.
The Word of God is not a static thing. In the words of St Paul, ‘It is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joins from the marrow; it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.'
The Word of God works at a whole number of levels: it judges, it challenges, it consoles, it blesses, it lifts up, it disturbs. But, most important if all, it grows in our hearts. This is what Jesus means when he says, ‘Anyone who has will be given more.’ The Word of God fills up our lives; it leads and guides us into discovering our true vocation and fulfilment in life.
This seed of the Word is planted in the hearts of those who believe and they grow in knowledge and appreciation of it. The more they reflect on the Word, the more they study it, the more they share it with others, then the more it grows in them.
And the more the Word grows the more it bears fruit: And the fruit is leading a holy life, in becoming an ambassador of Christ, in cultivating the virtues, and so on. The Word bears fruit in our lives when in the words of the Prophet Micah, ‘We act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God.’
The Word of God is spoken to us and we receive it and we make it welcome, and it grows in us and is reflected in the way we live our lives. But that is not all. Because we then open our mouths and speak the very same words.
We speak those words back to God in prayer and we speak them prophetically to our brothers and sisters in the human family.
In prayer we speak to God telling him our needs and concerns, our joys and sorrows. But when we have done with this we move to higher forms of prayer and sometimes, for example, just repeat the holy name of Jesus to him over and over. We can find that this is the most reverent and relevant thing we can do.
It is so simple and yet so profound. And by doing this we find that our whole life becomes a prayer, we discover that we have identified ourselves so closely to Christ that we feel utterly at one with him.
It is no mistake that those who are in later life often find that this is the kind of prayer that comes most naturally to them. It is, after all, the ideal preparation for that most profound encounter with Christ that comes at the moment of our death.
The other way of speaking the Word of God is when we prophetically announce it to our fellow human beings. We become the modern day mouthpiece of Jesus and we constantly look for opportunities to make the will of God known to those around us.
We do so whenever we speak up for justice, truth and love. We do so when we express compassion or address healing words to those in need. We do so when we teach the young, correct error or open the ears of those who have been deaf to God.
The task of the Christian in the world today is great but not burdensome for proclaiming the Word of God is our greatest privilege, our highest joy.
|