(15th Sunday of Ordinary Time)
Scriptures: Is. 55:10-11; Ps. 64:10-14; Rom. 8:18-23; Matt. 13:1-23
Kimberly Cornelius writes on her blog that the Bible changed her life. She was just a teenage girl. She felt that everything was going fine with her and needed no change in her life. They had a young priest in their parish and he was found of children. He had founded small groups of the children in his parish. He always encouraged them to share in the group about what was God doing in their lives. Kimberly never felt that God was doing anything in her life so she avoided sharing. One day, the religion teacher asked her to read the book of Acts of the Apostles in 28 days, as homework. She was not interested in doing this homework. After a couple of weeks, her conscience began to prick her. For the fear of her parents, she began to read the book of Acts. She would read one chapter each day. After 28 days, she felt that she should read the Gospel of Mathew, then the entire New Testament. She was consistently reading the bible every day. She says, “Something inside me began to change.” She began to love her family. She began to look forward to community worship. She wanted to live righteously. She wanted to please God. The most significant change was she began to know and love God. The word of God silently worked in Kimberly’s life. The Word of God had the power to bring about change in her life.
The readings from today’s liturgy give us the same message that the Word of God has the power to recreate the world. Prophet Isaiah in the first reading gives a comforting message to the people living in exile that they will return to Judah. He makes them aware of God’s promise of fertile land, restoration, water for thirsty and secure defence against enemies. The reading is taken from chapters 40-55 which is known as the book of consolation. The prophet uses examples from nature that is rain and snow, which water the earth so that seeds may sprout and grow, God’s word also accomplishes its purpose, it does not return without success. Prophet Isaiah tells us that God’s word has the power to bring change in our lives.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us a parable of a sower to draw a lesson: God’s word has the power to bring a change in our lives. Now in Palestine, the sowing was done before ploughing. The sower would lavishly throw seeds without seeing the quality of the soil. It shows his generosity and attitude of hope. These seeds fell on the four qualities of soil; the edge of the path, rock, thorny and good soil. Each of them produced according to their capabilities. The seeds on the path were eaten up by the birds; the seeds on the rocky soil produced and soon it withered away; the seeds which fell on the thorny soil sprouted but got choked. Only the seeds which fell in rich soil produced fruits. While explaining this parable, Jesus says that the sower is God himself, the seeds are the Word of God and the soil is our life. Jesus says that the Word of God is effective, it is powerful and it has the power to produce fruits.
What is important here to note: God’s word has power but it could be ineffective if we do not receive it in our lives. It is like the stone which is lying there for many centuries in the running stream of water. If one breaks it, one will find in it complete dryness or it could be like the vessel which is kept under the water tap upside down, it will never be filled. If the Word of God has to bring forth fruit in our lives, our lives should be like rich soil. It will produce its crops as the responsorial psalm says. We might plan to clear our lives to make our lives like rich soil. It is good but it is a narrow approach to our lives. The identification of our lives with one soil would be a misunderstood idea of the parable. We need to realize that all four soils are present in our lives, which means nobody is perfect. Nobody is bad for eternity. Even the gangster/robber love some people. If it is so then there is rich soil present in our lives too. That is why we need to work both the ways. The Word of God should be constantly read or listened to and put into practice. There are so many avenues available to read the Word of God. And on the other hand, we must work on our lives to be like the rich soil. The examination of conscience, the sacrament of penance can help to make our lives like the rich soil.
We heard about Kimberly Cornelius. She read the Word of God thus allowed God to sow His Words on her rocky/thorny life. The Word of God worked on her. She changed her life. I want to exhort you to read and listen to the Word of God. Shall we make a resolution like Kimberly Cornelius? We shall read the Bible every day. We shall begin to read the Acts of the Apostle. We shall read one chapter every day. In the next 28 days – we should be able to finish the book of Acts. May the Word of God penetrate our hearts to produce fruits in plenty.
