Sunday Homily for 16/7/2023.

 

My dear friends on this 15th Sunday in Ordinary time the readings focus on giving hope

when there seems to be no hope and urging us to sow where we doubt the possibility of fruit.

In the first reading taken from Prophet Isaiah, the prophet is preparing the people for the end

of their exile and their return to Jerusalem. The Babylonian Exile was a truly traumatic

experience. The people witnessed their beloved city destroyed; their families torn apart; their

houses demolished; and their country wiped out. The people were not so sure anymore

whether they still believed in the God of their ancestors. It is in this context that the prophet is

presenting these doubters with a word of hope from the Lord that has the purpose of

transforming the exiles’ lives.

Isaiah uses natural imagery- rain and snow to convey this message. In the dry climate of that

region, rain and snow were very important symbols of life. They cause the seed to sprout and

plants to grow. Like rain and snow that waters the ground, causing nourishing food to grow

that sustains the body, so also God’s word, as spoken by the prophet feeds the soul. The word

of God has come down from heaven, already at work steadily accomplishing what it was sent

to do. The end of exile is as inevitable as the sprouting of greenery after rainfall. 

In the second reading taken from St Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul compares our present

sufferings with our future glory and determines that the glory far outweighs the suffering.

Paul personifies creation and pictures it as waiting with excitement and longing for the

revealing of the children of God. By “creation,” Paul means the whole created order.

Creation’s discomfort is a hopeful sign—not a reason for despair. Like the first fruits of an

agricultural harvest, the first fruits of the Spirit constitute only a small part of the harvest but

point to a greater reward yet to be received. In God’s own time, the entire creation will share

what Christians have now — adoption by God and redemption.

The gospel taken from Matthew, is divided into 3 parts. In the first part, we have Jesus telling

the parable of the sower to the crowds. In the second part, we have the reason of why

parables are used and in the final part, Jesus explains the parable of the sower to the disciples.

To grasp the importance of the parable therefore we need to grasp the significance of the

centre portion of the text -the reason why parables are used. The word parable comes from

the Greek and means comparison, analogy or juxtaposition. Jesus’ parables set rather

ordinary-sounding stories in place to illustrate spiritual truths.

This parable is set at a time when Jesus has been dealing with rejection. In verses 14-15, he

quotes Isaiah 6:9-10, where the prophet speaks of people whose hearts have become dull and

who have shut their eyes to God’s truth—and Jesus says that the same is true for the people

who are rejecting him. They see but do not perceive and hear but do not understand, and the

reason is that their hearts are closed to Jesus. Jesus, therefore, will speak to the faithful in the

veiled language of parables— keeping the light from those who prefer the darkness.

The people had been listening to Jesus preach and teach, and had seen his miracles, and yet

they accused Him of demonic works and rejected him. They might hear the parable with their

ears but it would not make touch their hearts because of their hardened unbelief, rejection of

Jesus, and pre-conceived ideas. The disciples on the other hand believed in the person and the

work of Jesus, and so further revelation came to them. Jesus in the first part ends the parable

saying: “Let anyone with ears listen” (13:9). Jesus, like the prophets, communicates that

physically hearing the words is not enough. He ends the parable by telling the crowd not only

to listen but also to act on the teaching, to obey.

Now let’s come to the parable per se. What is special about parables is that there is no one

meaning that can be drawn from each parable.  It invites the listener to consider and discern;

to think in new ways. One way to understand the parable and which is the general

interpretation is to consider oneself as the soil. The soils are the people, the human hearts,

who respond to God’s message. The good ground received the seed, the word, it took root

and grew, meaning it was believed and it produced the fruit of righteousness and obedience.

We are called to be like the good soil – receive the good news, let it sink deep within us and

take root and bear fruit.

The other interpretation is to consider oneself as the sower. We have the responsibility to

proclaim the message of the kingdom, the gospel, to the world. And what about the results?

The results are not our objective, that’s God’s work, our work is to sow the seeds. Those who

receive the message in faith and act on it will change their lives. This change in people’s

lives, and the growth of the kingdom does not occur instantly, but over time. When we

consider the church and its various associations there is a tendency to play it safe, sowing the

word only where we are confident it will be well received. Our church programs follow the

tried and tested formulas. We shy away from taking risks and innovating. We hold tightly to

our resources, wanting to make sure that nothing is wasted. We end up stifling creativity and

resisting new ideas for fear they might not work. Mistakes and failure are to be avoided at all

costs. In contrast, Jesus’ approach to mission is quite different. He approves extravagant

generosity in sowing the word, even in dangerous places. Though we may wonder about the

wisdom or efficiency of his methods, Jesus promises that the end result will be a bumper

crop.

On a personal level imagine the number of things you felt a calling to do but you didn’t as

you feared failure. Perhaps you wanted to sing, you wanted to dance, you wanted to write but

you felt afraid of failure and you did not try. The parable assures us that God is at work below

the surface, causing growth that will manifest itself in due time. We need not despair if the

results are not immediately apparent—or if some of our efforts produce no gain.

Let us this week make a conscious effort to be the good soil. To let the word of God sink

deeper into our hearts and bear fruit and at the same time let us be sowers and sow the seeds

even when we feel that they will not yield results. Go ahead and take a risk for the kingdom

of God. May God bless us all.