Sunday Meditation: Sell All You Have

For the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year A, we reach the final parables in Jesus’s Parables Discourse.  In the two previous Sundays we heard a total of four parables.  Today we get another three, and possibly a fourth in that at the very end of the discourse Jesus offers us another strange comparison. 

The first two parables are about discovering the Kingdom of Heaven.  The first, the treasure in the field, is found by luck.  The second, the pearl of great price, is found by searching.  Both motivates the finder to sell all he has to orient himself to the fortune, which is the Kingdom of Heaven.  The third parable parallels last Sunday’s Parable of the Wheat and Weeds.  Here there will be a net to catch fish, and at judgement the good fish will be saved and the bad will be destroyed.

Gina Hens-Piazza in America Media points out that ultimately arriving at the Kingdom is not a passive reception:

 

The person who finds the buried treasure now goes and sells all that he has to buy the field. The person who finds the pearl of great price, also goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Finally, when the net is full, the people must do the work of hauling it ashore and sorting through to put what is good into their bucket. When Jesus asks whether the disciples (and we) understand, he is asking about whether we grasp our part in the discovery of God in our midst. By mentioning the processes of finding, selling, buying, hauling, and sorting in these brief parables, Jesus emphasizes that beholding God’s presence here and now requires effort.

 

It may require ridding ourselves of the many distractions that draw us away from cultivating that understanding heart. It may necessitate dismantling the habits, addictions, or busyness that compete for the attention required to recognize the divine presence within us. It may warrant that we expend the effort to set aside regular time each day to make ourselves available for the gift of understanding so we may glimpse the holy mystery in our midst.

I am also really struck by that “fourth” parable.  After the disciples acknowledge understanding the parables, Jesus offers this to the “scribes” of the Word: "Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."  Who are the scribes who have been instructed?  On the one hand, St. Matthew since he is scribing these words; on the other hand, all of us who now understand.

 

 

Today’s Gospel:

 

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,

which a person finds and hides again,

and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant

searching for fine pearls.

When he finds a pearl of great price,

he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,

which collects fish of every kind.

When it is full they haul it ashore

and sit down to put what is good into buckets.

What is bad they throw away.

Thus it will be at the end of the age.

The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace,

where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

 

"Do you understand all these things?"

They answered, "Yes."

And he replied,

"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."

~Mt: 13:44-52

 

 

Fr. Joseph Mary of the Capuchin Franciscans in his A Simple Word channel offers a great explanation of the readings.

Fr. Joseph Mary:

When a first century Jew heard the kingdom of God, one thing came to mind, a return to the golden age of Israel.  So, here we have it. two different groups of people, two very different groups, two very different times, and two very different understandings of the kingdom of God. Our youth, perhaps like many of us, are looking into the future at some shining kingdom in the clouds, a kingdom beyond this earthly life, while the Jews are looking into the past at a cherished memory of what had once been.  But this is a serious problem because when Jesus Christ came proclaiming the kingdom of God, he wasn't talking about either one of these. This was the focal point of his teaching, the main message, and it went right over their heads.  Most of the time, I think it goes over our heads, too. What did Jesus mean when he spoke of the kingdom of God?

 

Let's look at the three parables that he gives us in Sunday's gospel. The kingdom of God is like a treasure buried in a field. The first characteristic of this kingdom is what we already know. It's hidden. It's not the kingdom people are expecting. It's emerging in a secret way that not everyone sees. For this reason, Jesus says, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he's born from above.  Unless God himself reveals it, unless that person adopts a new way of looking at the world." The second characteristic of this kingdom is that it's extremely valuable. The parable describes it as a treasure.  It is the treasure. It's so valuable.  This man goes and sells everything he has in order to obtain it. In this parable, the kingdom of God is the goal of all of our efforts and strivings, the object of all of our longings and desires.  Jesus continues, "The kingdom of God is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. At first glance, it seems that the pearl of great price is an image of the kingdom of God. But that's not what Jesus says. He says the kingdom of God is like the merchant who's searching.  Here the kingdom is not an object being sought but an active force within the person himself. It's that indescribable hunger which impels him towards the fullness of something unspeakable, something which he himself can't even fathom. It's the spirit that urges us with groanings too deep for understanding.

 

In both parables, upon making this incredible discovery, the man goes and sells all that he has.  Jesus is saying that if one has truly discovered the kingdom of God, his whole life, all of his priorities will change radically…Jesus is clear. The kingdom of God changes a man. He's a new creation.  Jesus goes on, "The man goes and sells all that he has to buy this pearl." There's the same reaction in both parables. Jesus is telling us something crucial about the kingdom of God. It's now. He wants us to understand there is an urgency to respond.

The Kingdom of God is near.  The Kingdom of God is upon you.

I don’t know if I’ve ever posted on Gospel reflections from the channel My Catholic Life, but they do have a way of getting to the point.

 

My Catholic Life:

These parables pose two fundamental questions for each of us:

 

💠Have I discovered the priceless treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven?

💠If I have, am I willing to let go of everything else to attain it?

 

Like the man who stumbles upon the buried treasure, many people encounter God’s grace in surprising ways—through a moment of prayer, a profound experience at Mass, an act of charity, or even during suffering. Maybe those people were not actively seeking divine treasure, yet in a moment of providence, the veil is lifted, and the beauty of God’s Kingdom is revealed. Once they discover the treasure, their souls realize that nothing else compares. From that point on, they are moved to reorient their entire lives to possess that treasure fully.

 

The path of the merchant, by contrast, is that of the soul who longs for truth, beauty, and goodness, diligently seeking them out. The one who searches might spend years studying, praying, yearning, and pursuing what is of eternal value. And then—finally—the “pearl” is found. Christ is discovered. The Gospel becomes clear. The longing is fulfilled. Again, everything else is willingly surrendered for the sake of that one Pearl of great price—Jesus Christ.

 

In both parables, the decision to sell all to gain the treasure is an easy choice. The discovery is so great that everything else the person possesses pales in comparison. But how many people have truly made such a discovery?

It’s hard to say how many people have made such a discovery.  It’s possible to say very few, as the video suggests.  It’s also possible to say that many make such a discovery at some point in their lives.  Sometimes it takes time and a crises to reach that realization.  Afterall, the parable doesn’t say how long it took the merchant to search out the pearl.

 

 

Sunday Meditation: “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant

searching for fine pearls.”

 

 

 

“Seek Ye First (The Kingdom of God)” is a wonderful hymn for today.

 

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

And His righteousness;

And all these things shall be added unto you.

Alleluia!

 

Ask, and it shall be given unto you;

Seek, and you shall find.

Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Alleluia!

 

Sunday Meditation: Jesus the Divine Farmer

For the Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year A, Jesus continues His Parables Discourse.  Last Sunday He spoke of the Parable of the Sower.  Today he gives three parables, two continuing with the agricultural motif, and the third using the fruits of the produce to bake bread.  In a sense, these three are interrelated.  First is the parable of the Weeds among the Wheat, second the Parable of the Mustard Seed that grows into a huge tree, and third the Parable of the Leaven that makes the flower from the wheat grow.  All three parables begin with “The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared with…”  So in the first, the wheat must persevere over the weeds.  In the second, in persevering the seed grows to its glory.  In the third, the fruit from the perseverance, the flower, expands into the bread of life, and even, after consecration, the Eucharist.

The first parable is perhaps the most difficult to fathom.  Why would a farmer allow weeds to grow?  He wouldn’t, and that perhaps could be the illogical twist of this parable that Jesus often plants (excuse the pun!) in His parables.  However, I am told there was a particular weed that looked identical to the wheat, and one couldn’t tell until harvest.  If that is so, then the parable is more straight forward but I still think the twist is the point.

As some have pointed out, this parable explains Salvation History.  Evil is allowed to grow alongside the good.    If one follows the analogy, God does not want to disturb the good by destroying the evil.  But then, how many people are all good and how many people are all evil?  Not many, so then as others point out, the parable speaks to the good “wheat” and the bad “weeds” in our hearts.  We contain both, and with patience God is allowing our good to persevere over our bad.

And so, the Kingdom of God is within us!

 

 

 

 

Today’s Gospel:

 

 

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:

"The kingdom of heaven may be likened

to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

While everyone was asleep his enemy came

and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.

When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.

The slaves of the householder came to him and said,

'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?

Where have the weeds come from?'

He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'

His slaves said to him,

'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds

you might uproot the wheat along with them.

Let them grow together until harvest;

then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,

"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;

but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

 

He proposed another parable to them.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed

that a person took and sowed in a field.

It is the smallest of all the seeds,

yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.

It becomes a large bush,

and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"

 

He spoke to them another parable.

"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast

that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour

until the whole batch was leavened."

 

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.

He spoke to them only in parables,

to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:

I will open my mouth in parables,

I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation

of the world.

 

Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house.

His disciples approached him and said,

"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,

the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom.

The weeds are the children of the evil one,

and the enemy who sows them is the devil.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,

so will it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send his angels,

and they will collect out of his kingdom

all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.

They will throw them into the fiery furnace,

where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun

in the kingdom of their Father.

Whoever has ears ought to hear."

~Mt: 13:24-43

 

Here is someone new to my embedded homilies.  Deacon Malcolm Louis Concessao O.P. from St. Charles Seminary in Nagpur, India.  The seminary is run by Dominicans, and Dn. Malcolm has an “O.P.” at the end of his name which is dear to my heart.  I thought highly of this preaching.

 

Dn. Malcolm:

Dear brothers and sisters, there is something about God that often confuses us. We know that he is all powerful, all knowing, and perfectly just. Yet, when we look at the world, we ask, why does God allow evil to exist?  Why do the wicked seem to flourish while the innocent suffer? Why does God not remove sin immediately?  These are not new questions. They are as old as humanity itself.  Today's readings invite us [music] to look beyond appearances and discover the mysterious wisdom of God. The book of wisdom gives us a remarkable insight into the heart of God. It says, "Though you are sovereign in strength, you judge with mildness and with great forbearance you govern us."

 

Human beings often associate power with domination. The more powerful a person is, the more they tend to control others.  God reveals a completely different kind of power. His only potence is not expressed first through punishment but through mercy. Because he is infinitely powerful. He does not need to prove his strength.  Instead, he patiently waits for sinners to return to him. As the sacred author says, "You have given your children good ground for hope because you permit repentance for their sins." Wisdom 12 19.

 

This divine patience becomes even clearer in the gospel. Jesus tells the parable of a farmer who sows good seeds sin his field.  During the night, an enemy comes and sws weeds among the wheat. When the servants discover them, they immediately ask, "Do you want us to go and gather them?" Their reaction is understandable.  We want evil removed immediately. We want justice now.  But the master's answer [music] surprises us. He says, "No, for in gathering the weeds, you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest."  At first, this seems strange. [music] Why allow the weeds to remain? The answer reveals the heart of God. The master is not indifferent to evil.  Rather, he sees something that the servants cannot see. Wheat and weeds look remarkably similar in their early stages. If the servants act too quickly, they may destroy the very crop they hope to protect.  This parable is not simply about good people and bad people. It is about every human heart. Within each one of us there is wheat and there are [music] weeds.  There is generosity and selfishness.  There is faith and doubt, love and pride. If God judged us only by our weakest moments, none of us would stand before him. Yet he patiently continues his work within us. This is where St. John of the Cross offers a profound insight. He teaches that God transforms the soul gradually through purification.  God does not destroy the soul.  He removes everything that prevents it from loving him perfectly.  God patiently uproots the hidden weeds of attachment, pride, self-reliance, and disordered desires so that the wheat of divine love mature.

 

Often we become discouraged because we still discover weaknesses within ourselves. We expect instant holiness. But God works as a farmer, not as a mechanic. A mechanic repairs a machine in a few hours. A farmer cannot force wheat to grow overnight. Growth requires time, seasons, [music] rain, sunlight, and patient care. So it is with the spiritual life.  God's grace works quietly, often invisibly deep within the soul. Jesus continues with two short parables, my friends, the mustard seed and the yeast.

God works as a farmer, not as a mechanic!  That is so profound and worth remembering.

For the pastoral homily I’m going to go to the chief honcho himself, Pope Leo XIV.  In today’s Angelus, the Holy Father opened my eyes in his explanation of this Gospel.  The video will be filtered through Catholic Snack with their commentary, but the quotes will come from the Holy See’s posting of the sermon.

 

 

Pope Leo XIV:

These three short parables recall the coming of the Kingdom of God in history, its action in human lives, and the way it grows, expands and transforms the world from within.Through these images, Jesus warns us against the temptation of thinking that God is a powerful figure who imposes himself by force, who takes over and dominates, or who arrives triumphantly. Instead, God favors smallness, a sign of his discreet love, by which he leaves us free to accept or reject him. His love makes its presence felt even among the weeds, acts in a hidden and invisible way like the smallest of all seeds, and leavens the dough without making a sound.

 

Brothers and sisters, through these parables, Jesus reveals something important about the manner in which God works in our lives and in history. We sometimes expect God to do something spectacular; we want him to intervene from on high, immediately uprooting the weeds of evil. We imagine a strong and powerful God, and, unfortunately, we also model our way of being Christians and way of being the Church on this image. However, the Kingdom of God spreads even amidst the weeds, requiring us to train our vision so we can discern the good that sprouts despite the darkness of evil, and avoiding rash judgments. It comes like the smallest of seeds and thus calls for patience in accompanying these processes, so that we can recognize it in the little things of daily life and in the simplicity of ordinary existence. It grows invisibly like yeast in flour, and so we are freed from discouragement and invited to have faith even when it seems that God is absent. In fact, he is always with us, and his love is always ready to help us.

 

God’s way of acting must also become the way in which we live, both as individuals and as the Church, amidst the reality that surrounds us. We are called to adopt a Gospel-centered approach, without hastily opposing others through arrogant judgments, without imposing ourselves through power and force, and without losing trust in God’s work. As the then-Cardinal Ratzinger said, it is a matter of submitting ourselves to the logic of the seed — which is not that of success and greatness, but that of making ourselves small and serving others (cf. Address to Catechists and Religion Teachers, 10 December 2000). In this way, we will become like small seeds of the Gospel that sprout, and leavens of love that transform the dough of the world.

If we are to be channels for God to work through, we must “adopt a Gospel-centered approach, without hastily opposing others through arrogant judgments, without imposing ourselves through power and force, and without losing trust in God’s work.”  The Kingdom of God “spreads even among the weeds”!

 

 

Sunday Meditation: “I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.”

 

 

Finally, the hymn for today will be “As Grains of Wheat” by Laurence Rosania. 

 

As grains of wheat are gathered

we come together from lives apart.

We bring our hearts to make one whole.

For many are we and broken we come.

But we shall become one.

 

Each grain must fall and give itself.

It first is broken, then joined with others,

makes one body and one bread.

For many are we and broken we come.

But we shall become one.

 

Handmaids and Warriors Newsletter: July 2026

This is Alice’s July newsletter.  I explained Alice’s monthly newsletter here.  This month focuses on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Before the newsletter, let us pray: For Pope Leo XIV

Hail Mary, full of grace…

Hail Mary, full of grace…

Hail Mary, full of grace…

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

 

Handmaids of Mary
    St. Michael’s Warriors

 

                                                                 July 2026 Newsletter

 

“The scapular will be for all the sign of our Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

              ~Pope Pius XII

 

This month on the 16th is the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, when Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the brown scapular.

Mt. Carmel is in northern Israel near the city of Haifa.  It is also where Elijah challenged the pagan prophets and revealed the true God (1 Kings 18:16-45).

It is written on the Scapular, “whoever dies while wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.”

This, the Sabbatine Privilege, was added to the Brown Scapular by Pope John XII, making it an official church belief that Mary will intercede and rescue those who die wearing the Brown Scapular on the first Saturday after their death. 

The Brown Scapular not only spares us the fires of hell, but we will be quickly delivered from purgatory!!!!

Sursum corda. Can we wonder that the church whose mission is to soothe the sorrows of our time is always seeking to lift up our hearts by the treasures we have in the Catholic faith?   One of the means by which the Church enables us to participate in her treasures of grace is with sacramentals.

The Holy Spirit guided me this month to these sacramentals.

1. The Crucifix

One of our most treasured sacramentals is the crucifix.  It is the image of Christ on the cross as the victim for our sins, the price of our redemption.  Meditation on the crucifix is one of the most powerful means of awakening sentiments of sorrow for sin.

The crucifix should be place in a fitting and proper place in the home, where each may glance at it frequently and think, if only for an instant, of the love of Him whom it represents and the instrument of our salvation.  

“O Holy Cross, be my victor over all hostile powers, the remedy for all my ills, my support in my weariness and the guarantee of the resurrection of my body” Amen.

 

2. The Sign of the Cross

For Catholics the sign of the cross is a shield and a safeguard against temptations and dangers that threaten the life of the soul. St Cyril of Jerusalem said that when we make the sign of the cross the demons see it, they are reminded of the crucified, and they take flight and hide themselves and leave us. 

All sacraments are administered with the sign of the cross: in baptism fourteen times, and in the Sacrament of the Sick (Extreme Unction) twelve times.  In the mass no less than 45 times. It occurs with great frequency in the recitation of the Divine Office.  In addition, the Church grants an indulgence of three years as often as one makes the sign of the cross, and, as often as the sign of the cross is made with holy watery, an indulgence of seven years.

 

3. Holy Water

Water was one of the first objects to be blessed by the church for use as a sacramental.

It is the common teaching of theologians that holy water confers actual graces, remits venial sin, and restrains the power of Satan.  It is also an efficacious means for the relief of the souls in purgatory.  As often as we use it devoutly, our good Mother, the church, implores for us aid, consolation, and strength to do good and avoid evil.

Every Christian home should have a holy water font.  These should be placed in convenient places so that holy water may be taken frequently by the members of the family.  May fear of ridicule never deter us from making use of so a means of grace, both for ourselves and our dear ones, and for the faithful departed.

 

Through the sacramentals:

“The lord will grant you love, holy and pure.  You will forget the world’s fears.  Ah much more, the devil too.  Now the demon is manacled today.”

              ~St. Therese of Avila

 

Handmaids of Mary and men of St. Michaels Warriors are called to greater faith in the Blessed Mother, believing that She will defeat the devil and bring unity and peace to our beloved Catholic Church.  All Mary had to do at Cana was mention to Jesus “they have no wine,” and Jesus filled all the water jugs with wine.  Our part is to trust in Her Power.

“Who is She that comes forth as the Dawn…Terrible as an army set in battle array…”

 

Handmaid of the Handmaids,
Alice 

 

Sunday Meditation: Whoever Has Ears Ought to Hear

For the Fifteen Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year A, Jesus begins His Parables Discourse, the third of five discourses in Matthew’s Gospel.  He begins the discourse with the Parable of the Sower.

In the July 2026 (Vol 28, No. 5) issue of the magazine Magnificat, Fr. Philip Nolan, O.P. in his editorial has this to say about this parable:

 

The sower, says Jesus, is the Son of Man (Mt 13:37).  In the beginning of time, the Son of Man the Word of the Father, brought life not merely to a barren landscape, but to a void of absolute nothingness.  All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be (Jn 1:3).  Then, after the influence of evil stunted the growth of that first gift of life, in the fullness of time the Son of Man, the Incarnate Word of the Father, graced with his footsteps the hills of Galilee and the streets of Jerusalem, scattering with abandon his words of new life for the people of his time and the people of every time.

This puts the Word that is being sown into perspective.  He is the Word that brought forth life in abundance from the beginning, and is the Word which saves life now.  What is being scattered is the Word and words are the communicative constituents that are transmitted and received.  As Jesus says in this passage, “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

 

 

 

Today’s 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.”

~Mt: 13:1-23

 

 

I found Fr. Cajetan Cuddy’s explanation of this passage to be most insightful.  Other homilies focus on the sowing and the four soils, but Fr. Cajetan explores the element of hearing involved in the four types of reception. 

 

 

Fr. Cajetan:

The Gospel's opening line reads Jesus said to his disciples hear, hear the parable of the sower.  This parable and this dynamic of hearing serves as the gospel's meta context. The disciples hear Jesus.  And what do they hear? They hear a command to hear. Jesus commands them to hear the parable of the sower.  Our Lord then exposits, he explains, he unpacks the dynamics of hearing the word in each of the four disciplines. 

 

Thus, if we were to diagram, to frame, to outline this gospel, we could say that today's gospel comprises three degrees of hearing.  The disciples hear from Jesus, a command to hear, a parable, about hearing the word.  Hearing, hearing, hearing. This is the dynamic of today's gospel.  And each of the four seeds in the parable found in today's gospel, each of the four seeds hears the word. We note, however, what also attends or doesn't attend their hearing of the word.  The evangelical prepositions with and without With and without these prepositions, these words, play critical roles in today's gospel.  And perhaps most interestingly, the seed that's most significant is the second seed, the one, quote, sown on rocky ground.  Each of the other three seeds here's the word either with or without something else.  The first without understanding. The third with worldly preoccupations, the fourth with understanding.  Notice the withouts and the withs that punctuate these different scenarios vis-a-vis the seeds.

 

But it's the second scenario. The second is the only seed framed in terms of both a with and a without.  The one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy, but he has no root.  In other words, he is without root and lasts only for a short time, with joy, but without root, the paradoxical and distinguishing complexity of the second seed.  So evidently this second seed understands something. Of the word it hears.  If it lacked all understanding, there would be no basis for its initial joy.  The seed rejoices precisely because it does understand to a degree.  What it lacks, however, is root. And thus the joy of its, the seeds, the second seeds, limit under understanding, limited understanding is short-lived.  In contrast, the fourth seed. Who hears the word and understands it, bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirty fold.  This final seed who hears and understands is rooted.  So now we see as we progress through the gospel, in addition to the theme, the dynamic of hearing, we also have the theme and dynamic of understanding.  And the theme and the dynamic of rootedness.  Understanding and rootedness are essential attributes in the contemplative life in the theologian's contemplation.  As we know, understanding implies a certain intimate knowledge.

 

Notice what Fr. Cajetan points out.  In the first soil, “the seed sown on the path is the one

who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it.”  In the second soil, “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 [without] and lasts only for a time.”  In the third soil. “the seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then [with] worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.”  In the fourth soil, “the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it.”  The soil metaphor is related to the dynamic of hearing.

For the pastoral homily I’m going to turn to a Franciscan Friar, Fr. Jonathan St. André, TOR of Franciscan University of Steubenville.

 

 

Fr. Jonathan:

In the gospel for the 15th Sunday in ordinary time, we hear the marvelous parable of the sower and the seed. It's a beautiful parable that I think uh has so much to instruct us in in our tradition and spirituality. And actually, it's a parable that was close to St. Francis of Assi's heart. I've got my writings of St. Francis here, which are dogeared and beat up because I love reading them. And in his early rule chapter 22 in a section in admonition to the brothers he actually includes this parable in its entirety and gives some commentary on it. St. Francis writes, "We have nothing else to do but to follow the will of the Lord and to please him. Let us be careful that we are not earth along the wayside or that which is rocky or full of thorns." In keeping with what the Lord says in the gospel, the word of God is a seed.  So Francis of Assi is really imploring us, cautioning us, asking us, what kind of earth are you? How are you going to be receiving the seed of the word of God?

 

And I think if you're like me and you're honest and you look at your own heart, you look at your own soul, you look at your own spiritual life, that you are all of those different kinds of earth in the parable.  Sometimes parts of our heart are the wayside and the seed, the word of God, the message that we hear hits our heart, but it's too shallow. It can't really take root. Sometimes it's the rocky ground and we're all gung-ho and we're excited to move forward in faith and follow Jesus and then the trials come and it's like okay things slip away, slide away, we pull back. Sometimes it's the ground where the thorns have grown alongside the word and they choke out the word and the thorns in the scripture passage really relate to the allure of the world the temptations also anxieties for many of us we're just we get so anxious about many things that it can choke out the truth of God's word in our life so the constant pursuit of the spiritual life is to ask what kind of earth am I for the word for the seed that is the word?

 

So, at different moments in our lives we can be any of the four soils.  The Word of God as seed is constantly being sown, and our hearts have the capacity to plant the seed in any of the four ways.  May our hearts be of rich soil more often than not.

 

 

Sunday Meditation: “But blessed are your eyes, because they see,

and your ears, because they hear.”

 

 

This is a lovely hymn that matches today’s Gospel perfectly, “Seed, Scattered and Sown.”

 

 

Seed, scattered and sown,

wheat, gathered and grown,

bread, broken and shared as one,

the living bread of God.

 

Vine, fruit of the land,

wine, work of our hands,

one cup that is shared by all;

the Living Cup, the Living Bread of God.

 

Is not the bread we break,

A sharing in our Lord?

Is not the cup we bless,

The blood of Christ outpoured?

 

Lovely.