Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary
Time
Lectionary: 399
Lectionary: 399
Return, rebellious children, says the LORD,
for I am your Master;
I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan,
and bring you to Zion.
I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart,
who will shepherd you wisely and prudently.
When you multiply and become fruitful in the land,
says the LORD,
They will in those days no longer say,
"The ark of the covenant of the LORD!"
They will no longer think of it, or remember it,
or miss it, or make another.
At that time they will call Jerusalem the LORD's throne;
there all nations will be gathered together
to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem,
and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.
for I am your Master;
I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan,
and bring you to Zion.
I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart,
who will shepherd you wisely and prudently.
When you multiply and become fruitful in the land,
says the LORD,
They will in those days no longer say,
"The ark of the covenant of the LORD!"
They will no longer think of it, or remember it,
or miss it, or make another.
At that time they will call Jerusalem the LORD's throne;
there all nations will be gathered together
to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem,
and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.
R. (see 10d) The
Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Hear the parable of the sower.
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.
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.
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.
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."
"Hear the parable of the sower.
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.
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.
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.
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."
Meditation: Whoever hears the word and
understands it"
How good are you at listening, especially for the word
of God? God is ever ready to speak to each of us and to give us understanding
of his word. This parable of Jesus is a warning to those who hear and who
preach the word of God. What makes us ineffective and unresponsive to God's
word? Preoccupation with other things can distract us from what is truly
important and worthwhile. And letting our hearts and minds be consumed
with material things can easily weigh us down and draw us away from the
treasure that lasts for eternity.
Allowing God's word to take root in our heart
God's word can only take root in a receptive heart which is docile and ready to hear what God has to say. One lesson is clear: the harvest is sure.While some seed will fall by the wayside and some fall on shallow ground and never come to maturity, and some be choked to death by the thorns; nonetheless a harvest will come. The seed that falls on good soil, on the heart that is receptive, will reap abundant fruit. Are you teachable and eager to learn God's truth? And do you allow anything to keep you from submitting to God's word with joy and trusting obedience?
God's word can only take root in a receptive heart which is docile and ready to hear what God has to say. One lesson is clear: the harvest is sure.While some seed will fall by the wayside and some fall on shallow ground and never come to maturity, and some be choked to death by the thorns; nonetheless a harvest will come. The seed that falls on good soil, on the heart that is receptive, will reap abundant fruit. Are you teachable and eager to learn God's truth? And do you allow anything to keep you from submitting to God's word with joy and trusting obedience?
"Lord Jesus, help me to guard the word you have
planted in my heart that no doubt or temptation may keep me from believing and
obeying you. May I be fruitful in your service and may I never fear to speak of
you to others and to share with them the good news of the Gospel."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: God's word is like good seed sown in the
heart, by Jerome (347-420 AD)
"'And the one sown upon good ground is he who
hears the word, understands it and bears fruit.' Even as on bad ground there
were three diverse situations (by the path, upon rocky ground and among
thorns), so too on good ground the diversity is of three types: fruit of one
hundredfold, sixtyfold and thirtyfold. Both in one and the other there is a
change that takes place in the will, not in the nature itself. In both the
unbelievers and believers it is the heart that receives the seed. 'The wicked
one comes,' he says, 'and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.' In
the second and third cases, he says, 'That is he who hears the word.' In the
explanation of the good ground, he is the one who hears the word. First we must
listen, then understand; after understanding, we must bear the fruits of good
teaching and yield fruit either one hundredfold, sixtyfold or
thirtyfold." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON
MATTHEW 2.13.23)
FRIDAY, JULY
27, MATTHEW 13:18-23
Weekday
(Jeremiah 3:13-17; Psalm 19)
Weekday
(Jeremiah 3:13-17; Psalm 19)
KEY VERSE: "But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it" (v. 23).
TO KNOW: Jesus explained the parable of the sower to his disciples. The different types of soil in the parable depicted various responses to the proclamation of God's reign. The seed, the Word of God, sown on the pathway represented those who heard the message, but never accepted it in their hearts, and the evil one robbed them of what was sown. The seed sown on rocky ground were those who heard the word with enthusiasm, but quickly fell away when persecution or trials occurred. The seed sown among thorns were those who believed for a while, but the lure of riches and worldly concerns choked out the life of faith. The seed that was sown on fertile soil were those who heard and responded to the message with faith. Their lives would yield abundant fruit.
TO LOVE: What seeds of faith have I planted in the hearts of others?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, prepare my heart so that your words will take root and grow.
Friday 27 July
2018
Day of Penance.
Jeremiah 3:14–17. Jeremiah 31:10–13. Matthew 13:18–23.
The Lord will guard us, like a shepherd guarding his flock.
Jeremiah 31:10–13.
‘I shall give you shepherds after my own heart.’
Everything that happens in our life is a kind of parable that
tells of God’s presence to, and his will for, each of us.
Understanding comes not from ourselves or from the noisy
intervention of others, but rather from the Word speaking alone with us in the
solitude of our attentive heart. We need to seek solitude of heart if we desire
to be a disciple of Christ.
This solitude is found in a resolute detachment of the heart
from earthly things and the freeing of the heart is achieved and measured by dying
to self and to self-will.
There we find the rich soil in which we can hear the word and
understand it.
Blessed Antonio Lucci
Saint of the Day for July 27
(August 2, 1682 – July 25, 1752)
Blessed Antonio Lucci’s Story
Antonio studied with and was a friend of Saint Francesco
Antonio Fasani, who after Antonio Lucci’s death, testified at the diocesan
hearings regarding the holiness of Lucci.
Born in Agnone in southern Italy, a city famous for manufacturing
bells and copper crafts, he was given the name Angelo at baptism. He attended
the local school run by the Conventual Franciscans and joined them at the age
of 16. Antonio completed his studies for the priesthood in Assisi, where he was
ordained in 1705. Further studies led to a doctorate in theology and
appointments as a teacher in Agnone, Ravello, and Naples. He also served as
guardian in Naples.
Elected minister provincial in 1718, the following year he was
appointed professor at St. Bonaventure College in Rome, a position he held
until Pope Benedict XIII chose Antonio as bishop of Bovino in 1729. The pope
explained, “I have chosen as bishop of Bovino an eminent theologian and a great
saint.”
His 23 years as bishop were marked by visits to local parishes
and a renewal of gospel living among the people of his diocese. He dedicated
his episcopal income to works of education and charity. At the urging of the
Conventual minister general, Bishop Lucci wrote a major book about the saints
and blesseds in the first 200 years of the Conventual Franciscans.
Antonio Lucci was beatified in 1989, three years after his
friend Francesco Antonio Fasani was canonized. His Liturgical Feast Day is
July 25.
Reflection
As Pope Paul VI wrote in 1975, people today “are more impressed
by witnesses than by teachers, and if they listen to these it is because they
also bear witness” (Evangelization in the Modern World, #41).
LECTIO: MATTHEW 13:18-23
Lectio Divina:
Friday, July 27, 2018
Ordinary
Time
1) OPENING PRAYER
Lord,
be
merciful to Your people.
Fill
us with Your gifts
and
make us always eager to serve You
in
faith, hope and love.
You
live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) GOSPEL READING - MATTHEW
13:18-23
Jesus
said to his disciples: "Hear the parable of the sower. 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. 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. 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. 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 thirty fold."
3) REFLECTION
•
Context. Beginning with chapter 12, on the one side we see there is opposition
among the religious leaders of Israel, the scribes and the Pharisees; on the
other side, within the crowds who listen to Jesus and are amazed because of His
marvelous actions, gradually, little by little, a group of disciples is being
formed, with uncertain features, but who follow Jesus with perseverance. To
twelve of these disciples Jesus has given the gift of His authority and His
power. He has sent them as messengers of the Kingdom, giving them demanding and
radical instructions (10:5-39). Now at the moment when controversy breaks out
with His opponents, Jesus recognizes His true kinship, not in the lines of the
flesh (mother, brothers), but in those who follow Him, listen to Him, and
fulfill the will of the Father (12:46-50). This last account offers us the
possibility to imagine that the audience to whom Jesus addressed His words is
two-fold: on the one side, the disciples to whom He has given to know the
mysteries of the Kingdom (13:11) and who have the ability to understand them
(13:50) and, on the other side, the crowds who seem to be deprived of this deep
understanding (13:11, 34-36). To the large crowds who gather to listen to Jesus
is presented, above all, the parable of the sower. Jesus speaks about a seed
that falls (or not!) on the earth. Its growth depends on the place where it
falls; it is possible for it to be hindered so that it cannot bear fruit. This
is what happens in the first three types of earth “along the road side” (the
ground hardened by the passing of men and animals), “the rocky earth” (formed
by rocks), “on the thorns” (it is the earth covered with thorns). Instead, the
seed that falls on “good ground” bears excellent fruit, even if at different
levels. The reader is directed to be more attentive to the yield of the grain
than to the action of the sower. Besides, Matthew focuses the attention of the
listener on the good earth and the fruit that this earth is capable of
producing in an exceptional manner.
The
first part of the parable ends with an admonition: “Anyone who has ears should
listen” (v. 9); it is an appeal to the freedom of the listener. The word of
Jesus may remain a “parable” for a crowd incapable of understanding, or it can
reveal “the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven” for those who allow themselves
to be upset or affected by its force. It is the acceptance of the Word of Jesus
that distinguishes the disciples from the indeterminate crowds; the faith of
the first ones reveals the blindness of the others and obliges them to look
“beyond” the parable.
•
To listen and to understand. It is always Jesus who leads the disciples on the
right path for the understanding of the parable. In the future through the
disciples, it is the Church to be guided in the understanding of the Word of
Jesus. In the explanation of the parable the pair of verbs “to listen” and “to
understand” appears in 13:33: That which has been sown in the good ground is
the one who listens to the Word and understands it...” It is in the
understanding that the true disciple is distinguished from the crowds, who
listen to Jesus’ words only occasionally.
•
Hindrances to understanding. Jesus recalls, above all, the negative response to
His preaching on the Kingdom of Heaven given by His contemporaries. Such a
negative response is connected to the various impediments among them. The earth
on the edge of the road is that transformed by pedestrians into a trodden road;
it is totally negative: “Throw the seeds on the pavement of the street,
everybody knows that it serves nothing: the necessary conditions for growth do
not exist. And, then people go by, step over it, and ruin the seed. The seed
should not be thrown just any place” (Carlos Mesters). Above all, there is the
personal responsibility of the individual: to accept God’s Word in one’s own
heart. If it falls on a “trodden” heart, which is obstinate because of its own
convictions and indifferent, he sides with the evil one. Then the rocky earth:
If the first impediment was constituted by an insensitive, indifferent heart,
now the image of the seed that falls on the rocks, on stones, and among bushes
indicates a heart immersed in a superficial and worldly life. Such life styles
are energies that prevent the Word of God from bearing fruit. They begin to
listen, but immediately it is blocked, not only by tribulations and trials that
are unavoidable, but also because of the involvement of the heart in concerns
and riches. It is a life that is not deep but superficial, worldly. It is
similar to instability. The good earth is the heart that listens and
understands the Word; this one bears fruit. Such fruit is the work of the Word
in the heart that accepts it. It is a question of an active understanding that
allows one to get involved by God’s action present in the Word of Jesus. The
understanding of His Word will continue to be inaccessible if we neglect the
encounter with Him and, therefore, we do not allow it to overflow in us.
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
•
Does listening lead to the deep understanding of God’s Word or does it remain
only an intellectual exercise?
•
Are you a heart that accepts, that is available, docile to attain a full
understanding of the Word?
•
The crowds traveled far to hear Jesus. They invested time and effort, yet they
are identified as having hard or rocky hearts. At some level, they came to say
yes, but don’t. Do we also come to say yes but don’t really?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
The
Law of Yahweh is perfect, refreshment to the soul;
The
precepts of Yahweh are honest,
light
for the eyes. (Ps 19:7-8)
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