Wednesday of 16th Weeks in Ordinary Time
THE GOOD SOIL OF LIFE
Jeremiah states in the story of his special calling by God that it is God himself who has given him his mission to speak out as a prophet. God even remedies his inadequacy. He is the mouthpiece of God.
God looks for good soil to sow his seeds of life. Do we have the hearts of stone in which nothing grows? Or hearts, open to the Good News, but so overgrown with weeds of constant worrying about the cares of life and things that do not matter, that no time is left to cultivate the growth in us of God’s life and love? Let us ask in this Eucharist that we may yield a rich harvest, like the prophet Jeremiah.
First Reading – Jeremiah 1:1, 4-10
The Message of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah of the family of priests who lived in Anathoth in the country of Benjamin. God’s Message began to come to him during the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon reigned over Judah. It continued to come to him during the time Jehoiakim son of Josiah reigned over Judah. And it continued to come to him clear down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah over Judah, the year that Jerusalem was taken into exile. This is what God said:
“Before I shaped you in the womb,
I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
that’s what I had in mind for you.”
But I said, “Hold it, Master God! Look at me.
I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!”
God told me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a boy.’
I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there.
I’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it.
Don’t be afraid of a soul.
I’ll be right there, looking after you.”
God’s Decree.
God reached out, touched my mouth, and said,
“Look! I’ve just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered!
See what I’ve done? I’ve given you a job to do
among nations and governments—a red-letter day!
Your job is to pull up and tear down,
take apart and demolish,
And then start over,
building and planting.”
Gospel – Matthew 13:1-9
At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. “What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. “Are you listening to this? Really listening?”
Prayer
Lord our God,
you implant in our hearts
the good seeds of your word
and water it with your grace.
Let the good soil of our hearts
be receptive to each word
that you speak to us
in the Gospel, in the events of life,
in each good person we encounter.
Help us to yield a rich harvest
of integrity, compassion and love,
by the power of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever. Amen.
Reflection:
20 July 2022
Matthew 13: 1-9
The life-giving Word
We are reading here from Matthew’s chapter on the “parables of the Kingdom.” Pope Francis calls the Parable of the Sower the ‘mother’ of all parables because it speaks about listening to the Word. The Word of God is a seed that is fruitful and effective; God scatters it everywhere, not thinking about the chances of wasting the seeds. Such is the heart of God! Each of us is a ground on which the seed of the Word falls; no one is excluded!
The Sower is Jesus himself. He does not attempt to take us by force, but he casts his Word into our lives – by offering himself for us while leaving us free to choose. He brings us the Gospel – the Good News with patience and generosity. This seed contains messages of hope, compassion and forgiveness. That is why, if this seed is well received, it can bear marvellous fruits – fruits in abundance, just as the Sower sows the seeds – in abundance.
God’s word is not just a spoken word. It is also a creative and life-giving word. It is like a life-bearing seed. However, as the Lord narrated in the parable, much of that Word fell on barren soil. Many refused to hear or to see – as it happened to Jesus himself. Even those closest disciples of Jesus did not provide a very promising soil in the beginning. Jesus’ life and mission seemed to end in a tragic and dismal failure. There was not a single disciple in sight. His enemies laughed and mocked him. And yet… At that moment of apparent failure, the seed “fell into the ground and died” (cf. John 12:24) and there, the Word of God began to take root in the hearts of people.
Jesus invites us today to look inside ourselves: to give thanks for our good soil and to tend the soil that is not yet good. He wants our hearts to be open to welcome the seed of the Word of God with faith. We need to check if our rocks of laziness are still numerous and large; to identify our thorns of vices and call them by name. The Gospel reminds us to reclaim the soil, to effect a conversion of our hearts, bringing to the Lord in Confession and prayer our rocks and our thorns. In doing this, Jesus, the Good Sower, will be glad to carry out an additional task: purify our hearts by removing the rocks and the thorns which choke his Word.