As I prepared for the Children’s/Family Mass, I recalled these six words that can sum up Jesus message.
Be good dirt or potting soil.
15th Sunday of Ordinary How is God’s Word of Life and Truth Growing in You? THE HOLY SCRIPTURES FOR TODAY. [ Abbreviated ]
Isaiah 55 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 refrain “Rain down, rain down, rain down your love on your people.”
Psalm 65 Thus have you prepared the land: drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods, softening it with showers, blessing its yield.
Romans 8 We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now;
and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ##
Matthew 13 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.” ##
HOMILY How is God’s Word of Life and Truth Growing in You?
Jesus once compared our lives to be like seeds and He cited four soil types that He sees us being. Only one of those four types of ground was good for the seed, so Jesus says, and the other three types cause the seed to die, and to not get to full growth or success.
In keeping it real and keeping it simple, Our Lord’s earthy illustration was about His being the Seed and we being the ground, one of those four types, and that He is to be planted or placed into the type of ground that we are. What will happen here? Jesus so much would want to life and growth to happen. He will see if we want to fully receive Him, as such the Resurrection to Life Seed.
This illustration of Our Lord reminds me of a lesson that might have been given and shown to me as a 5 or 6 year old. The lesson? Take a pot of good soil, or a good fertile land spot, then plant in it a seed (provided), in due season, and then take care of it—with proper water and light care—and so then—see the seed become a plant and grow forth. We children were to delight in seeing our plant come up all healthy and green!
Now, using Jesus’ parable, let’s put one seed in a good pot or planter or tilled garden. Now, with the three other seeds, throw one seed on the school sidewalk, scatter another just on the surface outside, and the last seed put in a weedy, thorny spot, an area not known to be great for growing things. Watch and see what happens. The seed on the sidewalk gets trampled, the seed on the surface washes away in a light rain or gets eaten by a bird, and the weedy spot is not showing anything growing, or if it does, it com
es up but gets choked—as Jesus describes—by its ‘competition.’ The Seed is Jesus and He is received in the good soil of greatly interested faith, and then an outpouring of the Spirit comes on them.
I have spoken in homilies (in the past two weekends) of that the Word of God is meant for deep planting within us. The Word is the bread of the soul, the nourishment to the mind, and the inspiration to the heart. We really need the Word of God in us. He gives to our Christian lives what we really need to grow and to be in the eventual Harvest to Eternal Life. He is The Saving Word. Salvation to the sinner. A must-have!
God’s Word is sometimes referred to as “It” since we often are thinking of the Holy Bible book primarily. But more accurately, we are talking of God’s Word as Him, The Lord Himself. A bible may be an it, as the inspired collection of God and Scripture revelation, but God’s Word in communication should be understood further as personal and divine, not just historical records of religious people way back when. The same God uses His teaching to covenant people Israel and His personal visit as Word made flesh in Jesus Christ, and what we have savored for our New Covenant lives and application to live in Jesus right now.
God’s Word intends to move us, so we name the power as “The Living Word,” “the Prophetic Word,”” the Living Truth,” and “the Word on Fire.” The Word of God became flesh for us, once and for all, in Jesus –Who claimed to be the Word back to Genesis, the Eternal Son, or Eternal Word, living in the Holy Trinity. For we Catholics today, He is The Word that feeds and saves us and Who pairs Himself as Bread of Life Sacrament to us. We celebrate both in the Holy Mass, side by side, to be received in faith by God’s flock in Christ Jesus. When we come to Sunday Mass, we are, at least, in touch with the Scriptures and the Eucharist—God’s Word of The Church. It should be one of the highlights of our week to come around again to God’s Word. I am so fond of one of our Riderwood members of our weekly Mass at Arbor Ridge—she says often: ‘Thank you for gathering us, in this outreach of Resurrection, for this is the highlight of my week—as in the feeding of my soul and being with other hungry Catholic residents here for Holy Mass. ‘ Wow. There is a pleasing joy on her face that is in the Light of the Holy Spirit for sure! She wants the Word to pilot her Home—and she is the Twenties decade for her second time! (1920’s. 2020’s.) There is much fertile ground of faith in her!
The Word of God is saving. God is all into saving us. He comes down to us to be Salvation and Life for us. We are asked to respond, like that saintly woman, with a living hunger and thirst for God’s gifts and company, now and to the end. Philippians 2:16 says to the church: “Be blameless and innocent, children of God…holding fast to the Word of Life. “ That’s what I am preaching about.
[Here’s the full quote: Phill:2: 14-16 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I Paul may be glad that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
The Word is seeded in a soil in today’s Gospel. God is the Word given to you; planted or put on your ground, of your being. Yes, in the parable of Matthew 13, your life is the soil. So says Jesus, the Word. The question posed: Is it a good receptive soil for the Holy Action and Life God intends to us? Or not?
Jesus says in his parable that the seed scattered can fall on stony, busy, shallow, or unreceptive places. The parable asks: Can God’s Word grow there? In modern times, if the seed would fall into the realm and status we put on our computer or phone— and its sphere of such self-occupation—can the Word of God bear holy life in us in that environment? We are discovering that interference today. Will it make us a hardened, trampled roadway ground like the parable or see us amid the secular-humanism weeds choking off what God ‘s input means to be. Or is the Seed of God falling on any shallowness or foolishness? How can the wisdom of God grow in such shallow soul room? I heard someone say that smart phones and computers are touched 2000x a day, and used in a daily amount of many hours a day, not minutes, with much of it not having anything to do with edifying (blessing) us in a spiritual usage. So whatever is on that smartphone or computer notebook or tablet or home/work screen could be what is dominating our attention and focus. Check it out. But God expects to have His priority allotted to Him, as He shares Himself. He tells us frankly today: I the Lord look for the fertile good ground of faith.
P.S. Now we are glad for all the good our computers and phones and internet can offer, and even some Catholic social media presence, so that you can use your phone or computer that way for Catholic attention. Jesus’ parable spoke of what entangles us into worldly anxiety. That’s the point of His Word. I heard someone admit: ‘I think I am addicted to all this electronic attention. ‘ If only I would be so hungry and thirsty for Christ’ righteousness, and the Word of God—as in the 4th Beatitude. When he admitted to his being hooked on bad images on his screen, he turned to the Lord in repentance, and saw that doing Eucharistic Adoration could help him in the blessing of his eyes and his focus to God. The Word is in Sacrament, and he looks upon Christ in silence, and lets God have a silent time with him. I also encourage him to bring a Bible and commentary and to use some time to let God speak to Him via Scripture.
To you others, might I also point out the need for using the Catholic Catechism for help or in using similar sources of Catholic teaching, as to know the Truth of Christ. Proverbs 29:18 says: “Be where there is no knowledge, no vision, then the people perish, but I keep in the Word, happy then will I be.”
God’s Word of Life must be alive to us. God IS speaking and teaching. Are we prioritized to hearing God’s Word and His teaching? That’s my challenging question to pose out. Or really, it’s God’s challenging parable of the soil for you to ponder.
In recent attempts to stir God’s Word among us here—we’ve filmed the Rel Ed series and the Mass for people who were away in the pandemic. We added Formed to our parish family. We have some more parish Bible studies started. Our daily Mass is emphasized on a dynamic word, too, and many come to it.
This very week we are bringing a two night parish Mission to Resurrection on this Tuesday and Wednesday night (see your bulletin) that is designed to stir the living Word in you. Laura Huval will provide a rejuvenating boost to your Catholic faith. So, who is planning on coming out to this Mission for a Holy Word revival? That could be an excellent response to this homily, and looking to be sure you are in the good soil of faith and God’s Word. She will offer a two-day evening mission to enthuse us in our Catholic Faith. She is Laura Huval. Maybe she can help us to the gentle rains of God’s Word which we heard today in Isaiah 55. Amen.
RAIN DOWN.
This is a song we used in the 9 a.m. Family Mass today. I know its author and it makes me smile, because he lives in the desert outskirts of Phoenix Arizona. It’s “Rain Down” by Jaime Cortez. Jamie and his son travel to parish missions in America too, like Laura Huval is doing for us this week.
(Refrain) RAIN DOWN, RAIN DOWN, RAIN DOWN YOUR LOVE ON YOUR PEOPLE,
RAIN DOWN, RAIN DOWN, RAIN DOWN YOUR LOVE, GOD OF LIFE.
Faithful and true is the word of our God. All of God’s works are so worthy of trust. God’s mercy falls on the just and the right; full of God’s love is the earth. (Refrain) We who revere and find hope in our God Live in the kindness and joy of God’s wing. God will protect us from darkness and death; God will not leave us to starve. (Refrain) God of creation, we long for your truth; You are the water of life that we thirst, Grant that your love and your peace touch our hearts, all of our hope lies in you. (Refrain)