15th Sunday Ordinary Time July 16, 2023

Readings: Isaiah 55:10-11;  Romans 8:18-23;  Matthew 13:1-23.

The readings of this fifteenth Sunday talk about the word of God. The first reading emphasizes the principle of the word of God. The word that goes from the mouth of God does not return empty, without carrying his will and succeeding in what it was sent to do. The second reading reveal the inward groan within us that prevents God’s word from bearing fruit within us. The gospel through the parable of the sower, outlines the various degrees of dispositions towards the word of God. What determines our disposition towards the word of God?

Our priorities have much to do with our dispositions toward the word of God. Undermining the spiritual life is one of the banes our time. The word of God is food to the soul. It enables us to balance our afflictions to the extent that we have them under control. As long as our priorities do not accommodate the spiritual aspect of our lives, degrees of dispositions will emerge. From the gospel we gather that, some will receive it for a time but will lose it when faced with difficulties. Some will hear the word but will then permit other cares to choke it out. Yet some will receive it well, and the seed will produce abundant fruit.

Let us allow the word of God to bear fruit in us. It is the secret of the enormous yield of the seed that is sown on good soil.

Fr. Terry