July 24, 2020
by Andy Alexander, S.J.
Creighton University's Collaborative Ministry Office
click here for photo and information about the writer

Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 399

Jeremiah 3:14-17
Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13
Matthew 13:18-23

Praying Ordinary Time

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer

Ordinary Time Symbols in Our Home

When I read the first reading, and hear God, through the prophet Jeremiah, calling the people back to fidelity to God, and ultimately to unity, I long for the day that we might be all called together to a kind of fidelity which will heal our divisions and our "hardhearted wickedness."

In the Gospel, Jesus explains his parable of the sower. The application he gives to the story is so important for us today.

The hard Path:

The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.

Each of us can identify with the times we have heard the Word, without understanding it. It never gets below the surface, and it is as if it were simply stolen away from our hearts, because of something quite evil.

The Rocky Ground:

The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.

We can certainly identify with this situation. Sometimes we are quite unreceptive soil - like rocky ground. The sad part of this story is that we might receive the Word at first, even with joy, but because it doesn't - almost can't - take deep root in us, the joyful first reception doesn't last long. Our first religious fervor or devotion quickly passes. When things get challenging, and we encounter trouble, even resistance because of the Word, we immediately "fall away."

The Thorns:

The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.

This, too, is easy to recognize in ourselves. Our hearts are often receptive, but the Word gets choked, the way thorns and weeds choke out a plant trying to grow. Jesus so wisely identifies what deprives the Word of oxygen and nutrients. It's "worldly anxiety and the lure of riches." As sure as anything, anxiety about things that are worldly and lusting after "riches" of all kinds, are incompatible with the Word that comes to us from Jesus. They can't exist together. The word Jesus uses is so appropriate. The Word is "choked" by those things.

The Good Soil:

But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

The good news is there is good soil in each of us. It's "rich" and full of nutrients and ready to receive and understand the Word. The result is that the Word thrives in this soil and bears fruit, a wonderful harvest, powerful results, doing what it is intended to do in us and for others.

It's not likely that any of us are all a hard path or rocky ground, or fully of choking thorns. The grace being offered us to to pay attention to those parts of our hearts which are not receptive and where the Word is not reaching us. We want more of our hearts to be rich soil and less of it to be resistant.

This is an opportunity to ask our Lord to help us tend the soil of our hearts and to allow more of our heart to be good, rich, receptive soil. Each of us can apply the concrete application which is helpful for us here. If I recognize something in me that Jesus describes here, I can find grace in that recognition and ask for freedom and greater receptivity. I may even recognize that I'm not receptive to mercy or to patience or generosity or freedom from addictive behavior. I might find that the Word isn't reaching that part of me that is wounded or angry or has become self-reliant or controlling. This is a grace filled opportunity to ask our Lord to help us with this or that area where we need freedom and renewal. We might ask that a barrier might be removed here or there, even ones that have been there a long time. We might deeply desire to see my negativity or selfish needs choke out what our Lord is trying to offer me.

Dear Lord, we love you for helping us see this plot of garden soil we are, at this particularly challenging time of our life. The more challenging it is for us, the more difficult it is to hear and receive your Word. But, you've helped us recognize the state of our garden and offered us the desire to remove some rocks and some thorny weeds, and to even fertilize and enrich our soil better. Giver of all gifts, work with us to ready us to receive what you desire to plant in us, that we might love and give our very selves away in love, as you have loved us.

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alexa@creighton.edu

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