Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time A. July 10, 2005. Our Lady of Grace 5:15, 9:30. Isaiah 55: 10-11. Romans 8:18-23. Matthew 13:1-23.
Thanksgiving was a big day at the Ryan home. The elderly parents spent several weeks buying food and drink and decorating. Their four children and many grandchildren were invited to the feast as were cherished neighbors and friends. There was always a large crowd. The invitation from the Ryan’s said very clearly, “Come at 3:00PM. Dinner will be at 4:30.” As the guests arrived the Ryan’s welcomed each one with a warm hug and friendly conversation. The people invited enjoyed being together and you could see it in the way that they sat in twos and threes to talk as the children played in the yard with the family dog. When 4:30 arrived they stood around several large tables to pray and thank God for their blessings before beginning the feast. Right in the middle of the prayer the door bell rang. A man and woman stood at the door, huffing and puffing. They had made it right on time – or so they thought. Everyone moved down to make room for them at one of the tables. There weren’t enough plates because the hosts assumed that they weren’t coming. Everything became calm again as they tried to bring the latecomers up to date on the conversation, the laughter and even the tears of friendship that they are shared in the hour and a half before they arrived.
When the magnificent chocolate dessert was served everyone smiled in anticipation. As soon as the last bite of dessert was consumed the latecomers announced they that had to leave. They were very busy people, they said, and they had to make several other stops before the afternoon was over. They left the table almost as quickly as they had arrived. The other guests went to the living room and the yard to enjoy a cup of coffee or an after dinner drink as they continued to share the wonderful memories of the times they had been together. The latecomers had eaten the food, but they had missed the people who make eating a real feast. They had chosen to move fast rather than to move deep with the relationships in their lives. Perhaps the saddest part of the story is that the latecomers didn’t realize that they were missing the most important part of Thanksgiving Dinner – sharing with the people who came to the feast.
Jesus said, “A sower went out to sow his seed. Some of the seed fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. But when the sun rose it was scorched and it withered, because it did not have deep roots”
God’s word comes to us in many ways. Marriage and family life are great gifts. Friendship is also a great gift. We are given these relationships to teach us about the meaning of love and about God’s plan to transform the world in the self sacrificing love that a wife and husband have for one another and in the marvelous love that a parent has for a child. Without a deep understanding of these sacred relationships we will never understand the meaning of the Word of God, no matter how many times we read the Bible or how much theology we have studied. God’s Word to us comes alive as we enter into the deep relationships and responsibilities of our lives.
Our lives are the soil in which God plants his Word. If our lives are like sand that holds neither water nor nourishment, the seed of God’s Word will not grow in us. If our lives are constantly shifting like the rolling sands of the desert, then God’s word will not be able to take root in us. Today’s reading from the Prophet Isaiah assures us that God’s Word is powerful, watering the earth and making it fertile and fruitful. Jesus assures us that the seed of God’s Word is scattered everywhere in great abundance. God’s Word does wonderful things when the soil is good.
In a very unique way the Eucharist is the Word of God planted in us to transform our lives. Communion is a person to person relationship with Jesus Christ. When we do not take time to prepare ourselves for the gift of Communion through prayer, reflection and works of charity, then the Communion we receive falls on dry sand and nothing happens. It is like the latecomers who came to Thanksgiving dinner and ate the food and left immediately after dessert but missed the conversation and the friendship that makes eating a feast for the heart and the soul. Being too busy and trying to cover too many bases and make too many stops can keep us from going very deeply into life. Our lives become like dry sand. The Word of God does not grow in us because it is impossible to take root in the sand. We receive Communion but we never really meet Jesus Christ.
Every time that we slow down to pray with the Scriptures we enrich the soil that is our lives – preparing it to receive the Word of God. Every time that we enter deeply into the relationships of marriage, family and friendship we enrich the soil that is our lives – preparing it to receive the Word of God. Without prayer, without friendship and without leisure time to reflect and to grow, our lives become as dry as the desert sands, in which nothing can grow.
Someone told me recently that there are two ways to get a lot out of life. One way is to move faster. The other way is to go deeper. Our culture teaches us to keep moving, faster and faster. The result is that we only touch the outer surface of life. Our Catholic faith teaches us to go deeper. By going deeper and deeper into life we prepare our souls to receive the Word of God. Jesus said, “Some of the seed fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and it withered for lack of roots.” Lack of roots and trying to plant God’s Word in dry sand may be the great sins of our age. For the wisdom to prepare our hearts very carefully to receive God’s Word we give God thanks and praise.