DAILY- HOMILY

July 16, 2017 - 15th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Green

Is 55: 10- 11 / Rom 8: 18- 23 / Mt 13: 1 – 23

1st READING:     Is 55: 10 - 11

As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat, so is my word that goes forth out of my mouth: it will not return to me idle, but it shall accomplish my will, the purpose for which it was sent.

From the 2nd READING:                Rom 8: 18- 21

I consider that the suffering of our present life cannot be compared with the Glory that will be revealed and given to us. All creation is eagerly expecting the birth in glory of the children of God. For if now the created world was unable to attain its purpose, this did not come from itself, but from the one who subjected it. But it is not without hope; for even the created world will be freed from this fate of death and share the freedom and glory of the children of God.

From the Gospel Reading:            Mt 13: 4- 9

Jesus said, "The sower went out to sow and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep. But as soon as the sun rose the plants were scorched and withered because they had no roots. Again other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants. Still other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop: some produced a hundredfold, others sixty, and others thirty. If you have ears, then hear!"

REFLECTION

When I asked my father why he built a big house, he replied that he wanted each child to have his/her room. Parents wish to provide the best for their children.

God is our loving Father. More than any father here on earth, he cares for us, his children. Like the Son, his Word, each one of us created by the Father is also a word spoken by God. Each of us is a seed of God.

The Son, the Word of God, became man. He took our human nature, born of the Virgin Mary, and experienced how it was to be human. We too are to "incarnate" the word of God that each one of us has in our lives. This is the will of the Father, that his word in us come to full fruition. He works in each one of us to bring us to that fullness of life which his own Son won for us by his perfect obedience to the Father.

God continues to mold and shape us in all our life experiences. He is a God actively present to us in every moment of our lives, drawing us to become partners and participants in our own salvation. Are we open to his creative work in us? Do we listen to him in the intimacy of our hearts? This is what obedience is, to be attuned to his urging and voice, to his will of making us fertile seeds in fertile soil and so able to yield a hundred-fold harvest.

We do not return to the Father empty and void. Rather, we are to be fruitful in the ways of God, fruitful in the ways of Christ. And this fruitfulness comes about only in so far as we are able to join our own experiences of joy and triumphs, of sufferings and failures, with the life of his Son Jesus, our Lord. Becoming man, the Son of God embraced our being human, accepting our strengths and weaknesses, our humanity. We follow Christ in loving our humanity because the more human we are, in some way the more divine also.

Let us be rich soil, open to the message and urgings of God. He, the Source of life, brings us to the fullness of glory of his Son, to the glory he has prepared for us, his children.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER INTENTIONS:

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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   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the

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