September 20, 2025
Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul
Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs
Lectionary: 448
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Reading I
Beloved:
I charge you before God, who gives life to all things,
and before Christ Jesus,
who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate
for the noble confession,
to keep the commandment without stain or reproach
until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ
that the blessed and only ruler
will make manifest at the proper time,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light,
and whom no human being has seen or can see.
To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (2) Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Sing joyfully to the LORD all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
For he is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after
another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.
“A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold.”
After saying this, he called out,
“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.
He answered,
“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;
but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.
“This is the meaning of the parable.
The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092025.cfm
Commentary on 1
Timothy 6:13-16
Today we have our last reading from this letter. It is an
appeal for Timothy to consecrate his life totally to God and Jesus Christ, in
the way that Jesus proclaimed his messianic mission before Pilate. Truly, a
model for us to follow. The reading is actually an immediate continuation from
yesterday’s reading.
As the Letter comes to an end, Timothy is once more reminded
by Paul:
…to keep the commandment without spot or blame…
Paul makes his statement solemnly:
In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and
of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good
confession…
It was in the presence of Pilate that Jesus declared his
royal messiahship-kingship and his office as revealer of Truth. He said to
Pilate:
My kingdom does not belong to this world…Everyone who
belongs to the truth listens to my voice. (John 18:36-37)
The mention of Pontius Pilate, as a public official, lends
strength to the official tone of the witness. This is an example for Christians
to follow, whether making a profession of faith at our Baptism or when faced
with persecution. It is easy to make professions of faith in private.
In the last part of the reading, Paul’s charge to Timothy is
presented as a doxology in praise of Christ, the Christ of the Second Coming.
It may be inspired by a liturgical hymn and consists of scriptural phrases
transposed into Hellenic language, the themes being that God is the only object
of worship and no one may claim to fully understand the mystery that is God.
Timothy is to:
…keep the commandment without spot or blame until the
manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which he will bring about at the right time—
he who is the blessed and only Sovereign,
the King of kings and Lord of lords.
It is he alone who has immortality
and dwells in unapproachable light,
whom no one has ever seen or can see;
to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
“…at the right time…” – just as Jesus’ first coming occurred
at the precise time God wanted (see Gal 4:4), so also his Second Coming will be
at God’s appointed time.
Those who know their Handel will remember the Hallelujah
chorus which sings majestically of the “King of kings and Lord of lords”. This
phrase also appears in Revelation 19:16.
The phrase “…no one has ever seen or can see…” echos the
statement in John’s Gospel (1:18):
No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself
God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
Let us today also renew our total commitment to the King of
kings and Lord of lords and work for the day when we will be invited to live
with him in that now unapproachable light. We could do worse than follow some
of the advice that Paul gives to Timothy in this Letter, especially if we have
any pastoral responsibilities in our community.
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Saturday
of week 24 of Ordinary Time – Gospel
Commentary on Luke
8:4-15
In yesterday’s reading, we saw that Jesus was going around
preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, accompanied by his twelve chosen
disciples and a number of women who supported the work. Jesus, we are told, is
surrounded by people who have come from every nearby city. There is an
intimation of universality, ‘catholicism’, about the message he is going to
give.
We are given an example of some of the teaching that he was
giving them. It takes the form of a parable, the well-known parable of the
sower. As in Matthew’s version, the parable is told in two stages. The first is
the parable itself. The emphasis is on the sower sowing. He scatters the seed
all over – as Jesus is now doing with the people. Some of it falls on the path,
some on rocks, some among brambles and some on good soil.
It describes a typical situation in Palestine at the time.
The field was largely a public place, at least while it was fallow. So there
were paths meandering across it where people took short cuts. The land was not
very fertile so there were pieces of rock jutting out of the soil. In the
fallow season, it was not looked after and wild plants like brambles grew up.
Also, unlike other farming cultures, the sowing took place before the
ploughing.
The central message is that, even though some of the seed
that the sower plants will wither and die, there is some which will find
fertile soil and flourish. So it is with the Word of God and the Word of Jesus.
It is a message of confidence and hope for the future of the Kingdom. In the
Gospel, it is Jesus’ disciples who are the fertile soil.
As he finished the parable Jesus called out to all, inviting
them to hear. He did not mean that they just physically hear. They are meant to
listen carefully, to assimilate fully and to implement effectively all that he
says. He is the Sower, the seed is the Word, those spoken to are the soil.
Clear as it is, the disciples ask for an explanation of the
parable. Jesus tells them that the inner secrets of the Kingdom are for them.
Why this privilege? Because they are disciples, because they are followers,
because they are ready to listen. The rest hear in parables and only in
parables: seeing, they do not see; hearing, they do not understand. They do not
really want to see or hear because, as the Gospel says elsewhere:
…they may indeed look but not perceive, and may indeed
hear but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven. (Mark
4:12)
In other words, if they were to see and understand, they
would have to turn their lives around and they are not ready for that. The
disciples are those who have done just that; they have left their boats, their
nets and their families, their security and gone with Jesus. That is what
seeing and hearing means.
Then follows the explanation which really carries the
original parable further than its simple message. In fact, it becomes more like
an allegory where each part has a meaning of its own rather than the one point
that a parable normally makes. And, whereas in the parable the emphasis was on
the sower, here the emphasis is very much on the soil which receives the seed.
Each example is made to represent a particular way in which the message is
received or not.
The seed that falls on the path is like those who hear the
word but it is snatched away from them before they have even a chance to
respond. The overwhelming pagan world around them was just too strong an
attraction.
The seed that falls on the rock where there may be some
moisture in the crevices is like those who hear the word with great enthusiasm
and “joy” (a favourite Lucan term). But they are not able to put down any
long-lasting roots and, at the first hint of opposition or temptation, they fall
away. They represent the many early Christians who must have given up under the
pressures of persecution.
The seed that falls among the brambles represents those who
do hear and accept the word. But, gradually the pressure of the secular world
and its values is too much. They try to live in both worlds at once, but are
gradually choked up with concerns about money and material and social wants and
the pursuit of pleasure. Eventually, the word dies in them. Many Christians
today could identify with this group.
The seed that falls on good soil represents those who hear
the word in all openness and accept it fully. The word takes root deep within
them and overflows in all kinds of good works.
It is quite clear to which group we are called to belong. To
which one, however, should I honestly identify with myself?
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1247g/
Saturday,
September 20, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, our creator and guide, may we serve you
with all our hearts and know your forgiveness in our lives. We ask this through
our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Luke 8: 4-15
With a large crowd gathering and
people from every town finding their way to Jesus, he told this parable: ‘A
sower went out to sow his seed. Now as he sowed, some fell on the edge of the
path and was trampled on; and the birds of the air ate it up. Some seed fell on
rock, and when it came up it withered away, having no moisture. Some seed fell
in the middle of thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some
seed fell into good soil and grew and produced its crop a hundredfold.’ Saying
this he cried, ‘Anyone who has ears for listening should listen!’ His disciples
asked him what this parable might mean, and he said, ‘To you is granted to
understand the secrets of the kingdom of God; for the rest it remains in
parables, so that they may look but not perceive, listen but not understand.
‘This, then, is what the parable means: the
seed is the word of God. Those on the edge of the path are people who have
heard it, and then the devil comes and carries away the word from their hearts
in case they should believe and be saved.
Those on the rock are people who, when they
first hear it, welcome the word with joy. But these have no root; they believe
for a while, and in time of trial they give up.
As for the part that fell into thorns, this
is people who have heard, but as they go on their way they are choked by the
worries and riches and pleasures of life and never produce any crops. As for
the part in the rich soil, this is people with a noble and generous heart who
have heard the word and take it to themselves and yield a harvest through their
perseverance.
Reflection
In today’s Gospel, we will meditate on the
parable of the seed. Jesus had a very popular word to teach by means of
parables. A parable is a comparison which uses the visible things of life that
are known to explain the invisible and unknown things of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus had an enormous capacity to find very simple images to compare the things
of God with the things of life which people knew and experienced in their daily
struggle to survive. This presupposes two things: to be within the things of
life, and to be within the things of God, of the Kingdom of God. For example,
the people of Galilee understood all about seeds, of land, of rain, of the sun,
of salt of flowers, of the harvest, of fishing, etc. Now, there are exactly
these known things that Jesus uses in the parables to explain the mystery of
the Kingdom. The farmer who listens says: “The seed in the ground, I know what
this means. Jesus says that this has something to do with the Kingdom of God.
What could this ever be?” It is possible to imagine the long conversations with
the people! The parable enters into the heart of the people and urges them to
listen to nature and to think about life.
When he finishes telling the parable, Jesus does not explain
it, but he usually says: “Who has ears to hear, let him hear” This means: “This
is: You have heard and so now try to understand!” From time to time he would
explain to the disciples: People like this way of teaching, because Jesus
believed in the personal capacity to discover the sense of the parables. The
experience which people had of life was for him a means to discover the
presence of the mystery of God in their life and to have courage not to be
discouraged along the way.
•
Luke 8: 4: The crowds follow Jesus. Luke says: a
large crowd got around him and people from all the towns ran to him from all
the towns. So then he tells them this parable. Mark describes how Jesus told
the parable. There were so many people that he, in order not to fall, went into
a boat and sitting down he taught the people who were on the seashore (Mk 4:
1).
•
Luke 8: 5-8°: The parable of the seed is a
mirror of the life of the farmers. At that time, it was not easy to live from
agriculture. The ground was full of rocks; there was little rain, much sun.
Besides, many times, people, to shorten the way, passed through the fields and stepped
on the plants (Mk 2: 23). But in spite of that, every year the farmer sowed and
planted, trusting in the force of the seed, in the generosity of nature.
•
Luke 8: 8b: Anyone who has ears to hear let him
hear! At the end, Jesus says: “Anyone who has ears to hear, let him hear!” The
way to be able to understand the parable is to search: “Try to understand!” The
parable does not say everything immediately but moves the person to think. It
does it in such a way that the person discovers the message beginning from the
experience which the person has of the seed. It urges the person to be creative
and to participate. It is not a doctrine which is presented ready to be taught
and decorated. The parable is not water in a bottle, it is the source.
•
Luke 8: 9-10: Jesus explains the parable to the
disciples. At home, alone with Jesus, the disciples want to know the meaning of
the parable. Jesus responds by means of a difficult and mysterious phrase. He
says to the Disciples: “To you is granted to understand the secrets of the
Kingdom of God, for the rest it remains in parables so that “they may look but
not perceive, listen but not understand.” This phrase gives rise to a question
in the heart of the people: What is the purpose of a parable? Is it to clarify
or to hide things? Did Jesus uses the parables in order that people continue in
their ignorance and would not convert themselves? Certainly not! In another
place it is said that Jesus used the parables “according to what they could
understand” (Mk 4: 33). The parable reveals and hides at the same time” It
reveals for those who are “inside, within” who accept Jesus Messiah Servant. It
hides for those who insist in seeing in him the Messiah the glorious King.
These understand the images of the parable, but do not understand its meaning.
•
Luke 8: 11-15: The explanation of the parable,
in its diverse parts. One by one,
Jesus explains the
parts of the parable, the seed, and the earth up to the harvest time. Some
scholars think that this explanation was added afterwards; that it would not be
from Jesus’, but from one of the communities. This is possible! It does not
matter! Because in the bud of the parable there is the flower of the
explanation. Buds and flowers, both of them have the same origin, that is,
Jesus. This is why we also can continue to reflect and to discover other
beautiful things in the parable. Once, a person in a community asked: “Jesus
says that we have to be salt. For what does salt serve?” The persons gave their
opinion starting from the experience which each one had regarding salt! And
they applied all this to the life of the community and discovered that to be
salt is difficult and demanding. The parable functioned well! The same thing
can be applied to the seeds. All have a certain experience.
Personal Questions
•
The seed falls in four different places: on the
roadside, among the rocks, among the thorns and in the good earth. What does
each one of these four places mean? What type of earth am I? Sometimes, people
are rock; other times thistles; other roadside, other times good ground.
Normally, what are we in our community?
•
Which are the fruits which the Word of God is
producing in our life and in our community?
Concluding Prayer
Your kingship is a kingship for ever, your reign lasts from
age to age.
Yahweh is trustworthy in all his words, and upright in all
his deeds. (Ps 145: 12-13)
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