Friday, September 16, 2005
SATURDAY 24TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SEPTEMBER 17, 2005
SATURDAY 24TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR I
1 TIMOTHY 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.
LUKE 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."
REFLECTION
The early Church found great comfort in this parable. Our first
Christians were hard put to understand why their preaching of the
gospel was not universally accepted. And why did some people who
enthusiastically embraced the word when they first heard it, later drop
away from the word and the community? All this puzzled the early
church. They thought perhaps that they themselves were at fault, that
they were not preaching the word with sufficient conviction.
Luke reported this parable of the Lord for the sake of these
discouraged early Christians. Jesus' own words put them at ease. The
word, like the seed, was thrown broadcast over the land. Whether it
would issue in a fruitful plant depended to a great extent on the
ground on which the seed fell. Growth of the word, therefore, depended
on the dispositions of the person who received it. Was the recipient
open to the word, had he sufficient maturity and depth, was he
sufficiently sincere?
So also today: we can't expect our preaching, whether we preach by
homilies and sermons or by our lives, to produce always a hundredfold.
Much will depend on the disposition of the recipients. So the parable
is presented to us by Luke to encourage us today to preach and/or to
live our faith enthusiastically even though we don't see a hundredfold
harvest.
The parable, therefore, is meant to be a source of comfort for us.
However, if we read it honestly, it should cause at least a bit of
anxiety within us. Because it's also true that the word's growth
within us will depend to a great extent on the dispositions with which
we receive it.
PRAYER
"Lord, faith in your word is the way to wisdom, and to ponder your
divine plan is to grow in the truth. Open my eyes to your deeds, and my
ears to the sound of your call, that I may understand your will for my
life and live according to it."
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- In Thanksgiving: Bro. Nanding
- for the speedy recovery of Annika Nadine Uy.
- healings for Sr Mary David & her mother, Helena, Cindy, Angie's mom,
George & Ann.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Prayer Intention: Brion Valdellon Family
- Wedding Anniversary: Benigno & Teodora Young
- In Memoriam: Fr. Juan Andechaga, S.J.
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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