Preparing Good Soil

Preparing good soil

In the chapters and verses leading up to today’s Gospel, opposition is growing, pushing back against Jesus and his ministry. Some do not like that he has cured people on the Sabbath or that Jesus e…

friarmusings

In the chapters and verses leading up to today’s Gospel, opposition is growing, pushing back against Jesus and his ministry. Some do not like that he has cured people on the Sabbath or that Jesus emphasizes mercy and compassion over rules and regulations. Things get pretty rancorous; some go as far as to accuse Jesus of being in league with Satan. Other just keep asking for another miracle, another sign. And yet others believe. Through all of this, Jesus keeps sowing the seeds of faith.

The Lord’s Words Have Power

This parable of the sower and the seed  is all about hearing and rooting one’s life in the power of God’s Word, and of allowing the seed of God’s Word to root and flourish in our lives.

In so many ways, our culture persuades us to honor personal autonomy above all; to disallow another’s word any authority over our lives; to live and choose first by the measure of our own standards, our own word.

A Parable of Triumph or Tragedy?

RELATED HOMILIES:
The Parable of the Sower (2008)
Eternal Creation (2017)

Is the parable of the sower a positive or a negative parable? Is it a comedy or a tragedy? Like many of Jesus’ parables, this parable can be read in different ways. Therefore it is up to us to decide which way to read it. Some would conclude that it is a tragic parable because much, if not most, of the seed does not grow. It is eaten by the birds of the air, choked by the thorns, or scorched by the sun. But others would see it as a positive parable of growth, because the seed that falls on the good soil produces a bountiful harvest of a hundred, sixty, and thirty-fold.

The Word of God

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A. 12th July 2020 Isaiah 55:10-11; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23.   The readings of this fifteenth Sunday talk about the word of God. The first readi

Sunday Homily

The readings of this fifteenth Sunday talk about the word of God. The first reading emphasizes the principle of the word of God. The word that goes from the mouth of God does not return empty, without carrying his will and succeeding in what it was sent to do. The second reading reveal the inward groan within us that prevents God’s word from bearing fruit within us. The gospel through the parable of the sower, outlines the various degrees of dispositions towards the word of God. What determines our disposition towards the word of God?

What are You Going to Do About It?

What is this all about? Is this addressed to us? Are we doomed to never understand the Lord? Is Jesus trying to keep His message secret from us or from others? Is Jesus trying to keep people from receiving His salvation? None of that can be true; yet we are faced with the words: “They have scarcely heard with their ears, they have firmly closed their eyes, otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and then turn back to me, and I should heal them.”

My Word Shall Not Return to Me Empty

My Word Shall Not Return to Me Empty – A Homily for the 15th Sunday of the Year - Community in Mission

What do you expect to happen as a result of reading and hearing God’s Word? Do you expect to encounter something that will change you? The response of most people is pretty tepid and uninspired. Most don’t really expect much nor have they ever. For them, reading or hearing God’s Word is more of a … Continue reading "My Word Shall Not Return to Me Empty – A Homily for the 15th Sunday of the Year"

Community in Mission

The readings for this Sunday clearly set forth that God’s Word can transform, renew, encourage, and empower us. We ought to begin to begin to expect great things from the faithful and attentive reception of the Word of God. However, Jesus also spells out some obstacles that keep the harvest small or even nonexistent for some.

Let’s look at what the Lord teaches in three steps.

1. Promise 
2. Problems
3. Produce

Four Kinds of Soil

It is important that we take an honest inventory of ourselves and the importance of our faith.  If we recognize ourselves in one of the first three categories, then we are blessed that the Word of God has entered into our minds and hearts, but if the devil  has  stolen the Word due to our hardness of heart, we will not bear fruit unless we do something to improve the quality of our spiritual soil.

The Sower Sows Himself

The Sower sows Himself

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A Today, many preachers may choose to skip the homily. The congregation has already been treate...

michaelckw.blogspot.com

Today, many preachers may choose to skip the homily. The congregation has already been treated to a lengthy gospel passage and our Lord seems to have done an excellent job in unpacking His own teaching, which leaves little room, for us mortal preachers to expand upon it. Furthermore, it’s the familiar parable of the Sower. We would be hard pressed to find someone in the audience who has never heard of this parable or who is unfamiliar with its meaning. Here are the essential elements – the sower, the seeds and the four types of soil. 

The problem with our text and most other translations is that, the word “seed” does not appear anywhere in the original Greek version. It is simply added in by the translators. In the Greek version, Jesus simply says that a sower went out to sow, and “some” fell to the ground. In other words, Jesus is saying the sower is definitely sowing, but what exactly he is sowing is left vague. Translators only assume that it is seed, since that is what you would typically expect sowers to sow. That isn’t an illogical assumption. By filling in the blanks, the translators do not allow the reader the luxury of figuring out exactly what mysterious thing the sower is doing.

Clergy E-Notes

Pro-life reflections and intercessions related to the Sunday readings

We are the Soil

Farming is an integral part in the life of many people and has contributed much to the of the world’s economy. In effect agriculture is a major priority and is accepted internationally as the main entry point to eradicate poverty. The Parable of the Sower is a familiar story we hear in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matt 13: 1-9; Mk 4:1-20; Lk 8:4-15. In this the Lord illustrates four different types of people. Three of these types of people – those on the way, those on the rock, and those in the thorns, do not bring forth any fruit from the sowing. Only those on the ground, that is, those with rich soil, bring forth fruit and are saved. In fact, God has sown the seed of His Word and His Kingdom within each one of us. The results also involve our hard work and cooperation with His grace.  The image of seed sown reflects the reality of our lives: that is God’s call – and our cooperation with His grace. We are both the soil and the seed. The Living Word has been sown within us, so we must cultivate the ground of our hearts in order to be transformed in the Lord and more fully reflect His Image and Likeness. We are called to grow in holiness and progressively reflect the risen life of Jesus Christ to the world.

Glorious Freedom

Bottom line: The Holy Spirit frees us from the slavery of sin. He enables you and me – and all creation – to share the glorious freedom of the children of God.

This Sunday St. Paul talks about the “glorious freedom of the children of God”. What is St. Paul talking about? What is freedom?

First, let’s clear up a misunderstanding. Freedom does not mean doing whatever I want, whenever I want. No. When a person loses impulse control, it leads to slavery. We see that enslavement when a person become addicted to alcohol, drugs and pornography.

RELATED HOMILIES:

2017:  Spiritual Warfare Week 4: Relax & Pray
2014:  Life in the Spirit Week 2
2011:  To Sow in Trust
2008:  Power of the Seed
2005:  The Word Embodied in the Church
2002:  Relentless Mercy
1999:  Abundance vs. Scarcity Mentality
1996:  A Sower Went Out to Sow

May the Word Jesus Sows in Us Produce Fruit

Imagine the day Jesus taught the Parable of the Sower. The people were accustomed to Jesus teaching in parables about the kingdom of God because Jesus gave most of his teaching about the kingdom in parables. They would automatically compare themselves to the characters in the parable and see whom in the parable they were like. Everyone knew that some seed always fails and that some seed produces a good crop. But what did Jesus mean by the Parable of the Sower?

Longing for Life and Love

We begin our reflections today with the fascinating Reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8:18-23. He speaks of creation as straining to give birth, as longing and struggling to be free. He is thinking of nature, but, more importantly, of people throughout history, for we human beings give conscious expression to the striving that exists all around us and of which we are part. Wherever Paul looks he sees people, whether they know it or not, longing for that special freedom which comes with communion with God. This is experienced as a longing for life, for love, for meaning, for peace, for harmony and wholeness. He is reflecting on the immense surge of creative energy that people everywhere exhibit as they respond to this yearning to transcend themselves in love.

The Problem of Evil

We are inherently deficient and wanting, inescapably vulnerable. Such is the pain of the earth. Yet the sufferings of time, Paul writes, are nothing compared to the glory revealed in us. There is futility in our being only if our being is all there is.

The flower fades and droops. The once young body one day sags and then lingers long. Flesh hardens first, then melts away, corruptible, slave to space and time.

And yet we glory in it, and rightly so. God does as well. This paltry flesh, like all creation groaning, longs for finish, completion, and rest. Such is the glorious agony of our condition.

The Manic Gardener

What a great Gospel reading for this weekend. Jesus likens the Kingdom of God to a manic gardener who goes about his yard spreading seed everywhere with reckless abandon. The point Jesus is making is: God has spread his grace everywhere in a superabundant way. What is grace? Grace is a free and undeserved gift that God gives us to respond to our vocation to become his adopted children. God offers this grace to us every minute of every day. Like the flowers and plants in a yard of a manic gardener, grace is everywhere. Whether or not the grace will take root in our hearts is dependent upon our response. God spreads his grace everywhere but will only take root in hearts that are like that rich soil. Jesus warns us today that if our hearts that are like the path in the Gospel reading, or the rocky ground or the thorny patch, grace will be present in our lives but we won’t be receptive to it. And so, let’s take each of these one by one.

The Sower and the Seed

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: the Sower and the Seed

I recently heard of an interesting TV commercial that had been put out by Catholic Charities in the Philippines a while back.  The commercial begins with a businessman walking into a crowded subway…

The Alternate Path

I recently heard of an interesting TV commercial that had been put out by Catholic Charities in the Philippines a while back.  The commercial begins with a businessman walking into a crowded subway.  He is rushed and he is carrying his lunch in a bag.  As he is hurrying to catch his train he notices a homeless man sitting on the ground in a corner.  The man is dirty and obviously in need.  At first the businessman makes to walk on by but then he stops, walks over to the homeless man and gives him his sack lunch.  

Now, a second scene – it is the next day – once again, the businessman enters the busy subway station carrying his lunch and again he sees the homeless man.  He tries to walk by but once more his conscience calls and he heads over to give his lunch to the homeless man.  Things change though and this time the homeless man’s face changes to that of the face of Christ.  

Finally, a third scene.  This time we see from the viewpoint of the homeless man sitting in the subway station watching as people rush by.  We see the businessman once again coming forward with his lunch but the face of the businessman changes to that of the face of Christ.