THE WORD IS A SEED - 15TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (7/16/2023)

15^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
July 16, 2023

Isaiah 55:10-11
Psalm 65
Romans 8:18-23
Matthew 13:1-23

THE WORD IS A SEED

Seeds, growth, hope, the word of God - that's what our Scriptures would  have us consider today. The readings portray the word of God as a seed, ready to take root and grow. There are, however, obstacles to that growth that we need to be aware of, and we hear about those also.

ISAIAH

Our first reading is taken from the second section of Isaiah, dating from the 6^th century BC. It concerns how plants grow. Here, God's word is actually likened to precipitation - rain and snow - which cause the earth to "be fertile and fruitful," bringing forth growth. In other words, the watering of the earth accomplishes exactly what it is sent to do.

Similarly, God promises, "My word shall not return to me void." That is to say, when God sends forth his word, it will not return until it has accomplished what it was sent to do.

What a powerful and hopeful promise - God's word will infallibly produce results! The Responsorial, Psalm 65, contains the idea of God's promise of a fruitful harvest.

GOSPEL

The word of God is all-powerful. We heard in Isaiah that it never returns without accomplishing what it was sent to do. Why, then, do so many apparently reject God's word in their lives?

This gospel gives three reasons why the word of God fails to achieve the desired effects. First, the devil snatches the word away (seed on the path eaten by birds). Second, the word finds immediate acceptance and enthusiasm but no real depth and cannot endure tribulation or persecution (seed on rocky ground scorched by the sun). Third, the word is choked off by worldly temptations and desire for riches (seed choked by thorns).

As powerful as God's word is, it has to be received into the right soil in order to grow. And even in the good soil, there are varied yields - a hundredfold, sixty, or thirty. May we pray to be that "good soil" - that is, receptive ears, minds, and hearts.

ROMANS

God created the world good, but what happened? In our second reading, St. Paul says that creation is "groaning" in expectation of the revelation of the children of God. Even creation is in bondage until it is "set free from slavery to corruption and shares in the glorious freedom of the children of God." And so are we!

Paul says that even though we have the first fruits of the Holy Spirit we groan too, "as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies." We are still between the "already" of Christ's definitive redemption, and the "not yet" of the fullness of the completion of Christ's redemptive work at the end of time.

FULL POTENTIAL

May we all reach our full potential in Christ! That is our prayer today. Isn't it sobering that, according to the parable in the gospel, 75% of the seed sown never grows! Even the seed that lands on the good soil has such different yields of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. It's sobering indeed that such a small percentage overall ever reach their full potential in Christ and bear the maximum good fruit.

Let us pray today for an ever-greater grace of the Holy Spirit, that we might fully surrender to God's work in us, making us saints.