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Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 13
Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 65:10-14
Reading: Romans 8:18-23
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23 or 13:1-9
In this week's reading, God says, "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 ... so shall my word not return to me void."
During the darkest hours of the exile Deutero-Isaiah offered this message to the people Israel. Many of them no doubt had lost faith in Yahweh whom they probably now regarded as powerless. Reaching back to the creation accounts from Genesis, the prophet portrays the "Word of God" here as powerful, fruitful, fertile, transformative and able to bring hope and new life to the forlorn people in exile.
In the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul says, "I consider that the sufferings of the present time are nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God."
Again we have the life-giving image of God's breath that gave life to the world at the time of Genesis - and to its first two people, Adam and Eve. The "futility" and "slavery" that Paul alludes to is the effect of the original sin that we inherit as their children. Christ's redemption wipes away the effects of that sin and turns our bodies into instruments of salvation in which we "can bear the first fruits of the Spirit" - and one day our final glory.
In the Gospel from St. Matthew, Jesus says, "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path ... some fell on rocky ground ... some fell among thorns ... some fell on rich soil and produced fruit a hundred or 60 or 30 fold."
This parable is the first in a series of parables Matthew recaps in chapter 13. They are, of course, made to convey a moral or a lesson and to give Christ's followers a peek into the "mysteries of the kingdom" (cf.13:11). In this sense parables can be seen as words fashioned into a story that are life-giving and creative. The hearers of the word must overcome a number of obstacles that prevent the coming of the kingdom: their own hardheartedness (the path), tribulation or persecution (rocky ground), or the lure of material things (the thorns).
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 20
Reading: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
Reading: Romans 8:26-27
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-43 or 13:24-30
From the Book of Wisdom we hear: "Your might is the source of justice: your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all. ... But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us."
Our God is a God of paradoxes: all-powerful yet gentle and merciful; the source of justice and at the same time lenient; hidden and yet ever-present to his people (especially in their need). Written in Greek in Alexandria amid a pagan and non-Jewish culture, the purpose of this book is to give Jews justification for continuing the practice of their faith and traditions: Yahweh's wisdom is the answer to humankind's deeper questions about our lives and our place in the universe.
Again from the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul says, "The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness: for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings."
As God the Father breathes life into the world and the Son redeems our bodies through his death and resurrection, the Spirit "gives breath to our prayers." It is the Spirit who is our barometer and our compass who keeps us on the right path and directs both our efforts and our words toward the kingdom.
Continuing the parables from the Gospel of St. Matthew, we hear: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds throughout the wheat and then went off."
Three similes are given to describe the kingdom, its growth and the obstacles it will have to face. The first (vs. 24-30) speaks of the "enemy" (the devil) who will try to sabotage the good work of the sower (God). As Christ's followers, we are encouraged to patiently bear with the enemy's misdeeds until the harvest time when all things will be righted (when the weeds will be thrown into the fire). The second and third similes deal with the great and sudden growth of the kingdom like the mustard seed (vs.31-2) that produces the largest of plants and the yeast (vs.33) that spreads quickly. The rest of the excerpt details the Old Testament's groundwork for the use of parables (vs.34-5) found in Isaiah and in Psalm 78. Finally the last section (vs.36-43), which could have been a later addition, explains the meaning spelling out what everything stands for.
Father Marcel Pasciak is pastor of St. Patricia Parish in Hickory Hills.
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