Called to Nurture Seeds with “Steadfast Love”
Sunday, July 16, 2023
by Fr. David M. Knight
View readings for 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A1): https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings
LECTIONARY . 103 (Is 55: 10-11; Ps 65: 10, 11, 12-13, 14; Rom 8: 18-23;Mt 13: 1-23)
Inventory: Have you ever wondered why God’s words seem to have such a small effect on people? Why, after two thousand years of Christianity, is there still so much injustice and violence in the world? Where is the “reign of God”?
Input: The Entrance Antiphon celebrates the joy of seeing God’s glory: “In my justice I shall see your face, O Lord; when your glory appears, my joy will be full” (Psalm 16). But the Responsorial (Psalm 64) reminds us that the joy of seeing God’s glory is conditional on our being “good ground” receptive to his word: “The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.”
In the Opening Prayer(s) we profess our belief that the Father’s “light of truth guides us to the way of Christ” through “a world filled with lights contrary to your own.” We ask that “all who follow him may reject what is contrary to the Gospel,” so that “your love may make us what you have called us to be.” The readings develop this theme.
Good seed Isaiah 55: 10-11 makes it clear that God’s word is fertile seed: “My word… shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” The problem is not with God’s word, God’s teaching or instruction, or God’s guidance. The problem is with us and our response to God’s word. But before we look at the readings which explain this, we should first stop and affirm the basic, underlying, immutable truth which we need to keep in mind always: God’s word achieves its purpose. It is good seed. “The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.” Creation waits Romans 8: 18-23 acknowledges the reality of our present condition in this world. Even though we are “in the Spirit,” and “the Spirit of God dwells in us”; even though we are “led by the Spirit of God [and] are children of God…. and joint heirs with Christ”; even though we know that “creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God”; still, we also know “that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” Our spirits have been set free by grace, by our sharing in the divine life of God, but as long as we are in the flesh of our bodies in this world, we are subject to the world’s physical influences. We are surrounded by the spirit of this world embodied in words, actions and patterns of behavior that influence, entice and inhibit us, so that we cry out with St. Paul, “I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members!… Who will rescue me from this body of death?” The answer, of course, is, “Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.” And even though his way leads through “a world filled with lights contrary to his own” we know that “all who follow him” are empowered to “reject what is contrary to the Gospel,” so that his love “may make us what he has called us to be.” God’s word has power to save. “The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.” Good and bad ground Matthew 13: 1-23 explains why God’s words do not always bear fruit. Jesus is not a unilateral Savior. He wants the human race to play an active part in its own salvation. God doesn’t scoop us up like inert matter and deposit us in heaven. This would discredit God the Creator by saying that the human nature he designed could be corrupted so totally by sin – by human action — that even God’s divine power could not make it truly operative again. The “parable of the sower” gave the surprising revelation that God would not establish the Kingdom without human cooperation. Jesus tells us what blocks our response to his word:
1. enslavement to the “beaten path” of culture which makes the Gospel message something we simply cannot relate to;
2. failure to reflect deeply on his words until they take root in decisions (the “rocky ground” of shallow listening); and 3. attachment of heart to the things of this world (“thorns” that “choke the word”). Conscious of this, Christian ministers, if they want their ministry to be effective, must both model and foster
1. emancipation from the culture through radical acceptance of Jesus as Savior;
2. the discipleship of deep reflection that leads to personal choices; and
3. commitment to a life of continual conversion (change) in prophetic witness against the darkness and destructive practices of established human society. For the seed to grow, however, the ministers, all who are priests by Baptism, must 4. provide the “good ground” of a community, where seeds can be cultivated and grow together. If we do all of the above, then God’s power, working in and through us as stewards of the kingship of Christ, will
5. establish the Reign of God on earth. We will “renew the face of the earth.” “The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.”
Insight: Do I believe things will change if people take God’s word seriously? Will I do it?
Initiative: By word and, above all, by example, encourage people to reflect seriously on God’s word every day, responding with choices.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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