15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A, Year II)
Community Word: Those who come to Jesus find rest in Him.
Theme: We find rest in Jesus when we listen and understand the word of God.
Promise: “…my word…shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Isa 55:11)
Reflection:
WHAT TYPE OF SOIL ARE YOU?
Every believer who reads Scripture regularly will at some point find a favorite verse or two that may have struck a chord, or has had a significant impact on his/her spiritual growth. And it is only natural that Community shepherds, especially, should hold in their hearts favorite Bible verse/s that they then share with their lambs during the LSS.
The Gospel today, John 3:16, is among the most favored and widely quoted passage in Scripture, probably because it not only identifies the kind of soil needed for grain to grow, but also helps reinforce the divinity of man as we strive to turn ourselves into the fertile soil on which the Word of God can and will thrive. This passage also marks a change in the ministry of Christ. Where once He used to speak at synagogues, we now find Him teaching by the seashore. There is a reason for this. The religious leaders’ opposition to his teaching was growing, and Jesus knew that the time was coming when He would no longer be welcomed at the synagogues.
In this chapter, Jesus also begins to fully apply his own methodology, which is to teach using parables. Again, Jesus has a reason for this. By using parables, Jesus is giving his listeners the prerogative of discovering the truth for themselves. This is consistent with Jesus’ character of not imposing His will through his teachings, but instead, moves His listeners to search for the veracity and authenticity of His words.
The Parable of the Sower is familiar to us, but not in the same way it was familiar to the listeners of his generation. The Jews of his time knew the different kinds of soil Jesus was referring to. The fields in those days were long, narrow strips of land between footpaths that were as hard as the pavement. The stony ground was patches of land with layer upon layer of limestone rock underneath. The thorny ground, on the other hand, was soil that had been tilled and may look clean, but hide thorny bushes that thrive on the field after harvest.
Sowing a field during Jesus’ time was simply a matter of scattering the seeds. Hence, when strong winds blew, some of the seeds were naturally blown away, landing in some cases on the footpath where there is no soil, at other times, on rocky ground where soil is too shallow for seed to take root, or among thorns and thistles which eventually choke them. Other seeds, happily, end up on good soil where they produce grain a ‘hundredfold, sixty, or thirty’. Hence His listeners knew exactly what Jesus was talking about, even if he was speaking to them in parables.
Jesus was using these metaphors to provide His listeners a platform to easily understand what He was saying, His emphasis naturally, was on the good ground where seed can take root, germinate and grow. But what this Gospel is also showing us is the manner by which we are to respond to the Word of God when it is spoken to us. There should be no doubt or question about the need for the Word to take root in us.
A believer with difficulty keeping and obeying what he hears can reflect on what John’s Gospel about the in-dwelling Word (Jn 1:14), described as “the Word was God,” (Jn 1:1). Thus, by connecting these verses – the Word was with God; the Word was God; and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us – we establish our own divine nature. That we were all created in the “image and likeness of God” (Gen 1:26) should bring us to an understanding that we have no choice but to become the good soil that God has created us to be.
A key verse in this Gospel passage is verse 12 because this is the verse in which Jesus lays down the condition by which we are to receive His Word. What He is saying is that we must remain open to His Word because His Kingdom can only be understood by those who have experienced a personal encounter with Him. As we go through life, we sometimes gain and we sometimes lose what we already possess. What Jesus wants us to understand is that we can only gain the joy and beauty of His Kingdom if we remain in Him because the salvation He promised is only available to those who can deny themselves, take up His cross and, follow Him.
This is what is involved in becoming a good and fertile soil. To become good ground is for us to become “A Community of disciples inspired by the Holy Spirit to be living witnesses for transformation in Christ to bring about a world of justice, human development and true peace,” (BLD Vision).
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you been reading the Scriptures regularly? What verses have you encountered that took root in you and made you a better Christian today?
2. If not, what do you intend to do to nourish the Word of God in your life?
3. When you read the daily readings, do you discern what God’s message is to guide you in the circumstances of your life?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
July 13, 2014 (Sun) Is 55:10-11/Ps 65:10-11,12-13,14/Rom 8:18-23/Mt 13:1-23
July 14, 2014 (Mon) Is 1:10-17/Ps 50:8-9,16-17,21,23/Mt 10:34-11:1
July 15, 2014 (Tues) Is 7:1-9/Ps 48:2-3,3-4,5-6,7-8/Mt 11:20-24
July 16, 2014 (Wed) Is 10:5-7,13-16/Ps 94:5-6,7-8,9-10,14-15/Mt 11:25-27
July 17, 2014 (Thur) Is 26:7-9,12,16-19/Ps 102:13-14,154,16,18,19-21/Mt 11:28-30
July 18, 2014 (Fri) Is 38:”1-6,21-22,7-8/Is 38:10,11,12,16/Mt 12:1-8
July 19, 2014 (Sat) Mt 2:1-5/Ps 10:1-2,3-4,7-8,14/Ps 10:1-2,3-4,7-8,14/Mt 12:14-21
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
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