[media presentation below]
GospelThink
Sunday, July 16, Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
MATTHEW 13:1-23
I give you the story of the sower which tells you to look carefully at how
you are listening to the word of God.
Prayerthoughts
a. Jesus used stories as he preached. What “stories,” that is happening in my life so far has had a significant effect on me and why?
b. The seed sown is a symbol of the word of God. In what ways have I made the Word of God present to me in my spiritual life?
c. Perhaps it is best to consider myself as “part” of each of the categories that Jesus gives. In what way have I sometimes allowed the word of God to be spoken to me, but ignored it?
d. Has the word of God sometimes been present in my life, but because of something that happened which I did not like, I ceased to consider God’s presence? Perhaps I should spend a moment acknowledging how God was present in those difficulties.
e. In the past, have I allowed the “thorns” of life, the evils in my personal world to overpower me? Again, perhaps a moment praising God for the help God has given is in order.
f. My prayer is that I am prepared to allow the word of God to make an impact on my life. At the present time, what is the best way to do that?
g. My prayerthoughts…
Today, I will read Romans, chapter 8, and write an
important thought from it.
Some Thoughts on the Liturgy
LISTENING TO GOD
In the early days of the Charismatic movement at Notre Dame University a number of years ago, the leaders were fond of telling the story of one of the founders of the movement whom everyone respected. He was one of the foremost leaders in prayer in our Church at that time. One of the students in the movement suggested to him at one time that he should stress the gift of tongues a little more in his talks. The gift of tongues was always an interesting phenomenon and caught a lot of attention.
The holy man’s answer was quoted quite a lot. His reply: “If you want to pray well, the one thing you should be interested in is not the gift of tongues, but the gift of ears.” His point is well made. Before we can make any spiritual progress at all, we must listen to the word of God and hear that word with the intention of truly accepting it.
In Matthew’s Gospel today, Jesus gives us a story about the gift of ears, that is, listening to God. If we are asked to place ourselves in one of the categories of Jesus’ story, we want to put ourselves in the “rich soil” category, the category in which we truly listen to the word of God. A good case can be made for that: we go to Mass on a regular basis; every week most of us receive the Lord in the Eucharist; we pray, we read the Scripture.
But, I think a spiritually healthy way to consider this parable, is not to consider placing ourselves in one category, but to admit that at different times we are in all the categories. Sometimes we are the path in Jesus’ story, that is, as Jesus explains it in the Gospel, we are ones who hear the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and evil comes and steals away what was sown in our hearts. There are things about Scripture which we do not want to listen to and refuse to understand all the time—forgiveness and love of everyone, for example. It gives rise to “selective listening” or allowing ourselves to be exceptions to what Jesus tells us to do.
Often we are nothing but rocky ground, namely, one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy, but such a person has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, such a person immediately falls away. When the going gets rocky—and it will—we forget religion and forget God. Our problem is one of consistency, we do not stay with what God wants as we live our complicated lives, giving rise to the contradiction of “partial Christianity”—in which we believe, but only at certain times.
Often we are in the category of thorns, that is, a person who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. The problem often is two-fold—worldly anxiety (translate: pleasure) and money—riches as Jesus mentions. Is it not interesting that it was the same problems for Jesus’ time as well as ours. Our priorities get all mixed up, and in general, we allow an increased bank account and too much pleasure to make decisions that hurt family and relationship with God.
Sometimes, of course, we are rich soil, and we listen with the intent to be the people we should be. When we do, we are people who have the gift of ears, listening to everything that the Lord says. It is only then that we will be able to know how to follow the Lord completely.
MEDIA PRESENTATION
Movie: “Rogue One” — final session
OUR ONLY HOPE
The Gospel
MATTHEW 12:15b-21
Many people followed Jesus and he cured them all, though he sternly ordered them not to make public what he had done. This was to fulfill what had been said through Isaiah the prophet: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my loved one in whom I delight. I will endow him with my spirit and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. The bruised reed he will not crush; the smoldering wick he will not quench until judgment is made victorious. In his name, the Gentiles will find hope.” |
Matthew the evangelist often quoted the Old Testament showing how Jesus fulfilled the promises spoken by Old Testament prophets. He wanted his Jewish readers to know that Jesus was the chosen one that was spoken of by the prophets like Isaiah, and that therefore there was hope for the people who would believe in His name. Such a hope was what the people of Jesus’ time needed. They knew only too well that life was not as good as it could have been, and they discovered how Jesus was the hope that they were expecting.
The rebel forces in the movie “Rogue One” understood that the destruction of the Death Star was the only hope they had. If they could not destroy it, the whole world would be governed by evil. Jyn and her fellow rebels gave up their lives, but were finally able to deliver the means by which the hope could be realized. All “Star Wars” fans know that Princess Leia was able to take what was delivered to her at the end of the movie and destroy the Death Star and free the world from evil domination. The last word spoken in the movie is the word “hope” and the message is that there is always hope for people who believe.
Of course, our hope is not in a plan to destroy death as portrayed in a fantasy movie. Our hope is in the True Force in a Christian’s life, the same hope that Isaiah spoke of as quoted in Matthew’s Gospel. Our hope is with the Lord Jesus who leads his believers to victory, both in this world and in the next.
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