Reading 1
1 Tm 6:13-16
Beloved:
I charge you before God, who gives life to all things,
and before Christ Jesus,
who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate
for the noble confession,
to keep the commandment without stain or reproach
until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ
that the blessed and only ruler
will make manifest at the proper time,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light,
and whom no human being has seen or can see.
To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
R. (2) Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Sing joyfully to the LORD all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
For he is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Gospel
Lk 8:4-15
When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.
"A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold."
After saying this, he called out,
"Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."
Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.
He answered,
"Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;
but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.
"This is the meaning of the parable.
The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance."
Meditation: Luke 8:4-15
“A sower went out to sow.” (Luke 8:5)
We have all heard this parable so many times that we can probably recite it by heart. We have all been trained to ask what kind of “soil” we are and whether the seed of our faith is in a fertile enough environment. But have you ever thought about the sower? Here he is, flinging his seeds all over the ground—in briar patches, on rocks, in the open air. He’s lucky some made it onto the good soil! And what was he sowing? The word of God!
Jesus didn’t fault the sower for having bad aim. He speaks no word of reproach because some of the precious seed landed on unsuitable ground. He seems satisfied with how the seed was spread, and with where it went. If you think about it, Jesus is just satisfied that the seed had been sown in the first place!
Just so, Jesus wants us to sow every day, no matter where we are or what our environment is like. Being a sower is not a highly specialized occupation, reserved for an elite and specially trained few. We can all do it. We don’t have to get stressed about the ground the seed falls on; we don’t have to wait until we find the “perfect” soil to receive the seed.
Just sow! Talk simply, normally, about the things you know about who God is and what he’s done in your life. Tell of his goodness, in whatever ways you have experienced it: through healing, or forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; in the pleasure of hearing his voice or feeling his presence in your prayer time; through understanding some passage in a new way as you read Scripture.
Fling it wide! Perhaps you’ve received the grace to know joy even on the anniversary of the death of a loved one, or the power to “lose the mood” and ask forgiveness from someone when you’ve lashed out in anger. Go ahead and share these blessings! Spread the seed, and let God worry about the soil that receives it.
“Holy Spirit, help me to sow God’s word today. Remind me of the times I have seen you at work, healing, strengthening, or teaching me. Help me to scatter these seeds all around me.”
No comments:
Post a Comment