Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat,

so is my word that goes forth out of my mouth: it will not return to me idle, but it shall accomplish my will, the purpose for which it has been sent.

Hope of Glory

I believe that the suffering of our current life cannot be compared to the glory that will be revealed and given to us.

All creation eagerly awaits the glorious birth of God’s children.

For if the created world was unable to achieve its purpose, that does not come from itself but from the one who subjected it. However, there is still hope;

for even the created world will be freed from this fate of death and share in the freedom and glory of God’s children.

We understand that all of creation groans and experiences the pains of childbirth.

Not creation alone, but even ourselves; although the Spirit was given to us as a foretaste of what we are to receive, we groan in our innermost being, eagerly awaiting the day when God will give us full rights and rescue our bodies as well.

Parable of the Sower

That same day, Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside.

Many people gathered around him, so he got into a boat and sat down, while the crowds stood on the shore;

and he spoke to them in parables about many things.

Jesus said:

“The sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path; and the birds came and ate them up.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep.

But as soon as the sun rose, the plants were scorched; and they withered, because they had no roots.

Again, other seeds fell among the thistles, which grew and choked the plants.

Still, other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop: some a hundredfold, others sixty, and others thirty.

If you have ears, then hear!”

Then his disciples came to him and asked:

“Why do you speak to them in parables?”

Jesus answered, “To you, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people.

For those who have, more will be given, and they will have abundance. But those who do not have will lose even what they do have.

That is why I speak to them in parables; because they look but do not see, hear but do not listen or understand.

Within them, the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled:

Despite hearing,

you do not understand;

you shall indeed look but never see.

For the heart of this people

has grown dull.

Their ears hardly hear,

and their eyes dare not see.

If they were to see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

and understand with their heart,

they would turn back,

and I would heal them.

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

For I tell you, many prophets and righteous people have longed to see the things you see, but they did not see them; and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear them.

Explanation of the Parable of the Sower

Hear then the parable of the sower.

When someone hears the message of the kingdom but doesn’t take it seriously, the devil comes and takes away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath.

The seed that falls on rocky ground represents the person who hears the word and immediately accepts it with joy.

But such a person has no roots and only lasts for a short time. As soon as he is harassed or persecuted because of the word, he gives up.

The seed that falls among the thistles is the one who hears the word but then gets distracted by the worries of life and the love of money, which choke the word so it does not produce fruit.

As for the seed that falls on good soil, it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this seed bears fruit and produces a hundred, sixty, or thirty times more.”