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15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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Today’s readings remind us that the soul, like soil, must be good if we expect good things to grow from it.

In today’s First Reading we’re taught that God’s word comes down like the rain to nourish the earth and help good things grow. Throughout salvation history the Lord has rained down many words (the Old Testament, for example) to help his creation thrive and grow, but with mixed results. Isaiah reminds us today that those mixed results are not the Lord’s fault; they’re ours. The rain produces fields ripe for cultivation, but it takes work to reap the seeds that will keep the crops going, and keep bread on tables.

In today’s Second Reading Paul reminds us that sin did not just mess up agriculture; it messed up the designs of creation itself by diverting it from its purpose. The Lord created many things for us to love and serve him as well for loving and serving others. Yet, as we saw in the First Reading, the results were mixed due to an inadequate response on our part to his designs. Paul goes beyond the fertile fields described by Isaiah: all of creation is a fertile field that will reap a glorious harvest: eternal life. Sin tried to frustrate that glorious harvest, but the Word came to show us how to follow God’s plan for a glorious harvest once again and help creation achieve its purpose again.

Today’s Gospel is the Parable of the Sower, and the seed being sown is the Word of God trying to make its way into a soul. Through the parable Our Lord explains the obstacles to the Word of God bearing good fruit. Our Lord invites us to see the difference between hearing something and listening, between looking at something and seeing it. Just as farmers till the soil we have to be active in letting the Word of God bear fruit in our life by cultivating the soil of our soul.

We shouldn’t be afraid of welcoming and nourishing the seed of God’s Word, because God has sown it for a good purpose and he will continue to watch over the soil and cultivate it. He may ask for something demanding, but he’ll be with you every step of the way and he has plans for something good to grow out of your generosity and sacrifice. Parables present something from daily life, but are also doorways to other spiritual and divine insights about God, the “knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven.” It’s not enough to look at the door: it must be opened to discover what lies beyond. When we see parables in this way, when we see the Word of God in this way, we see something from which we can draw profound truths regarding ourselves, our world, and Our Lord, not just once, but constantly. That requires an effort in faith to listen and to see, an effort to open our hearts and open that door into the greater world Our Lord wants to reveal to us.

If we don’t understand what he is telling us, his Word stays on the surface and doesn’t penetrate our hearts, and the Evil One can easily sweep it away before it has any effect. There is an active Evil presence out there that would like us to remain shallow and superficial and someday lose eternity with God, which is why we always need to watch and pray in moments of temptation and seek to understand God’s Word with profundity.

There’s a moment where an insight into his Word causes sensible consolations and warm feelings, but sentiments are often skin deep and change direction like the wind. If we only listen to feel good, when we start feeling bad we’ll stop listening–enthusiasm only lasts so long. God’s Word wants to be with us and help us in our ups and downs; he always has something to say, so whether we’re exultant about something or despondent, we need to keep listening, harder if needed.

We must till our soil so that God’s word can produce a good harvest in our lives, but environmental factors can impact the quality of our soil too. There is a lot of “noise” that can try to drown out his Word, and not all of it is self-generated. We live in a culture today that can be shallow, superficial, and base: all those things can form a sort of screen on our hearts that prevents God’s word from getting in. There can also be a moment where we let our anxiety about something separate us from his Word: we become more concerning with the passing things of this world and not about the Kingdom: we worry about money, power, or pleasure. If we become attached to those things they won’t just drown out God’s Word, but they’ll make us deaf to many other things as well. What comes to mind in moments of silence? Concerns that come to mind in a quiet and peaceful moment often help us analyze and address our attachments. A bad environment can choke out the Word in our lives, so we need to always consider whether there are certain places we should no longer go, certain people we should no longer see (if we’re too weak to change and to help them), certain things we should no longer do.

Readings: Isaiah 55:10–11; Psalm 65:10–14; Romans 8:18–23; Matthew 13:1–23.

 

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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Today’s readings remind us that while many things in a believer’s life remain the same whether they’re believers or not, the believer also lives those things differently: in meekness and humility of heart.

In today’s First Reading, a prophecy of the Messiah, the Messiah does not come charging in on a huge warhorse; he comes on a lowly beast of burden not “built for speed.” The king is just, but meek. That doesn’t seem enough to do the job. How is he going to banish chariots and archers and establish peace among the nations with so little? The Lord promises this king will not just serve national interests: he will proclaim peace to the nations and reign over them all. He is not ambitious, but selfless and simple. He has a big job to do and he doesn’t tackle it making a lot of noise or mustering a huge army. We know who this Messiah, is and how he brought peace: his meekness, justice, and desire for peace disarmed the world of his time and took it by storm.

In today’s Second Reading Paul gives us an insight into how the Messiah, and his disciples, conquered the world: by turning from the flesh and living the life of the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord spread and conquered hearts, just as it does today. However, we always face the danger of backsliding, and some don’t live according to the Spirit of God at all, despite the fact that they’ve received the Spirit through faith in Christ and Baptism. It’s the Spirit that teaches us the true cause of woe and war and provides the solution: the desires of the flesh must be conquered. Wars and discord in our world stem from those who strive after the things of the flesh, desires that make them greedy, selfish, and cruel. The true war, at times unseen, is between the flesh and the Spirit. It is still waged by Christians, with victories and defeats, but always with their hope firmly placed in the Lord, who definitively overthrew the things of the flesh.

In today’s Gospel the Lord teaches us that there are things in life to which we’ll be blind if we are not “little” in our aspirations and taught by him how to be meek and humble of heart. Creation was made with the Son in mind, so it is no wonder that the Father would make his Son the key to understanding life’s meaning and purpose. The Son encourages us to learn from him, meek and humble of heart. Without this knowledge, life is much more burdensome than it was meant to be. That’s why in today’s Gospel he assures us that it is not as tough as it seems, and will give us rest from our struggles. If the Spirit of Christ is woven into the fabric of creation, the more we imitate him and try to make his Spirit guide our lives, the easier everything will be, because through peace with Our Lord we’ll also achieve peace with ourselves and with his creation.

The most common misconception about meekness is that it is synonymous with weakness. Did Our Lord seem weak to you? Meekness requires a concerted effort of various virtues. It requires self-mastery which forestalls and checks impulses of anger, so it is related to temperance. It requires tolerance of the failings of others, so it requires patience and fortitude. It calls for forgiveness of injuries and benevolence towards all, so it comes from charity. If you’re still not convinced, try being a little meeker this week and see how much effort it requires.

Readings: Zechariah 9:9–10; Psalm 145:1–2, 8–11, 13–14; Romans 8:9, 11–13; Matthew 11:25–30.

13th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year I

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In today’s readings we see the first steps of two connected legacies being assured. In the First Reading Sarah’s death and Abraham’s old age show a generation passing and the need to ensure a legacy of blessings for the generations to come. Abraham paves the way for his son Isaac, the inheritor and custodian of the promises of God, to marry and become a patriarch in his own right. His inheritance is not just material wealth; it is to transmit the faith and promises that the Lord made to Abraham, promises underway: a great nation, and a land to call their own. Isaac himself is the first sign of God fulfilling his promises.

In today’s Gospel Our Lord calls Matthew to be one of his apostles. Our Lord himself would be the one to definitively fulfill the promises made to Abraham: beyond the earthly promised land and simply biological progeny, Our Lord would become a blessing for all nations, gathering them in the Promised Land of Heaven for all eternity. The Apostles would be entrusted with this inheritance, including Matthew, and transmit it to future generations of believers: the Gospel.

Both Abraham and Matthew knew that if they turned back to their past they’d lose all the Lord had given them: Abraham was called out of the land of his birth and his kin in faith and insists that Isaac not return there for any reason. It’s as if doing so would be turning his back on the faith and promises that had taken him so far. Similarly, Matthew turned his back on sin and never looked back.

We are the inheritors of the Gospel too. Let’s transmit it to future generations as our legacy and never look back to the life we lived before we received it.

Readings: Genesis 23:1–4, 19, 24:1–8, 62–67; Psalm 106:1b–5; Matthew 9:9–13. See also St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.

 

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13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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Today’s readings remind us that the new life we’ve received in Christ, a new life we live even now as Christians, is not only due to Our Lord’s sacrifice on the cross, but is also a pattern of life that we should be following to engender new life.

In today’s First Reading an influential woman receives the promise of a son after showing hospitality to the prophet Elisha because he was a man of God. This woman saw something of God in Elisha, and that something moved her to invite Elisha to dine. She extended her hospitality expecting nothing in return. However, she didn’t limit her hospitality to just a few meals: she prepared a place for Elisha to stay when he was in town. Her hospitality and generosity were a sacrifice of her time and treasure for the sake of the Lord’s mission. Serving Elisha was serving the Lord too. With no children on the horizon she and her husband’s line were destined to come to an end. Through her selfless sacrifice she and her family received new life with the promise of a son.

In today’s Second Reading Paul reminds us that it was sacrifice and death that brought us new life in Christ, and we must also sacrifice and die to ourselves so that Christ’s life may take hold of us and engender a new life. We speak of the “old man,” condemned to death due to original sin, as dying in baptism so that the new man, born in Christ through Baptism, may begin a new life. It doesn’t matter how old or how young you were when you received baptism; you were an “old man” in sin and were born of water and the Spirit through Baptism, making the old man perish and his sins, original or otherwise, along with him. This death and new life take place spiritually and sacramentally through Baptism, but one day, just as it did for Christ, it will take place for real: death awaits us all someday, but if we believe in Christ, new life awaits us too. Sin leads to death, so the more we deaden ourselves to sin, denying ourselves and sacrificing ourselves for others as Christ did, the more the new life in Christ can take hold of us and make our new lives flourish.

In today’s Gospel we see that hospitality to others is hospitality to Our Lord. The influential woman of today’s First Reading, by helping Elisha, helped the Lord and was blessed for her hospitality. Even today, as Our Lord reminds us, when we serve others, especially those who are serving the Lord, we are serving the Lord himself. He’s also very good at hiding in the people you’d least expect. True hospitality is not stingy. A guest knows when the host is doing the minimum to satisfy some social obligation or curry favor: skimping on the food and drinks, keeping the event brief, etc. Our Lord today invites the disciples to examine why they are serving others: are they really serving themselves in some way, trying to gain something for their service, or are they truly serving them because they serve the Lord? Our Lord warns us that we must take up our cross in serving others, and even lose our lives, but also promises that in the end he will take care of us too if we focus on caring for him through caring for others.

There are so many ways we can practice Christian hospitality, which in a way is synonymous with Christian charity. It’s not dinner parties (although it’s very gracious to organize them). It can be as simple as making a sandwich or some cookies for homeless people. It can be helping at a food kitchen, homeless shelter, clinic, or halfway house. It can be welcoming a scared young mother or foster child into your home who needs some stability and a safe place to stay. Big or small, you are not just loving the persons involved; you are loving Christ.

Readings: 2 Kings 4:8–11, 14–16a; Psalm 89:2–3, 16–19; Romans 6:3–4, 8–11; Matthew 10:37–42.

12th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday, Year I

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In today’s Gospel the Lord puts us on guard against prophets who seem innocuous, even helpful, but actually have ulterior motives, none of them good. Travelers have lamented getting sick on seemingly delicious wild berries and mushrooms, only to find out that they’re poisonous. It takes knowledge to test a prophet and to avoid disaster. We all know that actions speak louder than words, and it is through actions that we can evaluate whether someone is being good or evil.

This is complicated today by a society that can be very “gray” when it comes to determining moral values. Sometimes saying someone is “bad” is really watering down the fact that their actions are evil. The ancient Greek philosophers formulated a simple moral principle: do good and avoid evil. That bears the test of time: a prophet who does evil is a false prophet, because a true prophet comes from the Lord, who’d never order evil.

All Christians are prophetic to the degree that they give witness to truth and good in their lives. Let’s all take stock today of the fruits of our actions so that we are true prophets and known to be so by our good actions.

Readings: Genesis 15:1–12, 17–18; Psalm 105:1–4, 6–9; Matthew 7:15–20. See also 23rd Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

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