July 13, 2014

15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Isaiah 55: 10-11; Romans 8: 18-23; Matthew 13:1-23
God constantly teaches me and each person; do I listen? Why am I reluctant to listen to God? Is it because I don’t want to change my lifestyle, I like what I am doing and its ‘nice’ living this way? What am I afraid will happen if I listen to what God teaches? Is it that I will not be comfortable in the life God asks of me?
I look at my years spent in learning and the great teachers that I had; certainly not all of them I would classify as ‘great’. But I looked forward to coming to class to hear these ‘great’ teachers who showed a love for their area of expertise. I look at the qualities they possessed: certainly a deep knowledge of their subject; a love for their field and a search to discover more knowledge; and certainly a love for imparting this knowledge to their students showing a great love and respect for each of us ‘learners’. Classes were not boring, in fact they ‘zoomed by’. I did not find the subject matter hard when it came to tests because these teachers had made it so interesting. These teachers had the unique gift of challenging me and helping my developing mind so that I could get deeper knowledge and understanding. I could not apply the term boring to their classes.
I find this important to consider when I look at Jesus and His teaching method. I find it so interesting the Gospel writers often give lengthy accounts of His ‘sermons’. But we do not have the entire sermon. They do tell us however that Jesus spoke to crowds and they were ‘so fascinated’ that they stayed hours and even a few times, ‘they were hungry because they had stayed so long. I’m not sure that I have missed too many meals by listening to such a captivating preacher. Jesus used examples to help in His explanations. In all the teachings from Isaiah, Paul and Jesus’ today they are not complicated…their message is evident…but am I listening?
Isaiah is saying that God’s word is spoken only to accomplish the end for which it is sent. He is constantly trying to awaken the people to the power of God’s word that brings life. He is instructing all that the bond with God has never been shattered. God has called each person; people fail; what God is best at is His mercy. He uses the example of the power of water…the rain soaks the ground and fills the rivers as does the melting snow from the north. Fields turn green, crops grow and can be harvested and the people are the recipients of God’s bounty. Isaiah tells them and me that just as the crops sustain life, God’s word gives life to the inner person. As Alice Camille says in Exploring the Sunday Readings “Just as water is on a mission to make things wet, Isaiah says, so the word of God is on a mission to make the divine will effective. God doesn’t speak into a void as we often do, muttering to ourselves about the way things ought to be. God’s word brought light out of original darkness and brings life to the dead. When God speaks, no empty words fill the air. God’s word becomes flesh and lives in our midst.”
Paul shares that it is the Spirit who helps each person in discovering and loving God. So often the sufferings that accompany each person in life distract from God’s plan which is to bring each person to the glory of heaven. JB Phillips in The New Testament in Modern English translates the first sentences of today’s passage, “In my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has in store for us. The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.” What excitement awaits each person…to be forever with the divine love of God! I have a role in this redeeming process…as Alice Camille asks, “If creation is to be redeemed, what implications does that have for our stewardship of the planet?” Am I listening to the importance and value of my life and application of my gifts in being witnesses to God’s glory and love?
In a sense the Gospel calls each person to be a farmer or a gardener. Jesus asks me and each person to spend time reflecting on the gifts (seeds) they have been blessed with. Nurture these gifts; fall in love with these gifts; share these gifts; let others be blessed with these gifts. The message is not to hoard these gifts or to disregard them…they are from God and have are an important part of God’s plan for my world that I live in and interact in each day. This is a ‘nice’ message but it takes time and patience. Gerard Manley Hopkins began a poem with the words, “Patience, hard thing!” I don’t remember the rest of the poem, these first words are important enough for me. It’s even more interesting to see that the word ‘patience’ is from the Latin word ‘passio’ which means suffering. As Living the Word says, “The hardest thing about patience is that it requires that we loosen our grip on our situation and let what will come arrive in its own time. Patience means surrendering all attempts to force a solution; it means letting time take over so situations may run their course.” This leads to all sorts of questions and reflections.

• God blesses each person with life and gifts each person for where they are and what God needs them to do in this life.
  
• God asks that each person rely on God in the ‘scattering’ of these gifts as well as being teachers and witnesses to these gifts.
  
• The goal of each of these gifts in each person is to lead another and others to a knowledge of this God of love.
  
• This is going to be easy at times, teaching is, but it’s going to be difficult because of all sorts of anxiety, suffering, hurts and far too many distractions that come to play in living.
  
• During this time of waiting, patience must be cultivated.
  
• The end product is that if we have faith we will someday share in the glorious freedom of the children of God, because we trust that God’s words will achieve the end for which God has sent it. DO I TRUST GOD?
  

SO WITH THIS IN MIND

• It is important to ask what talents/gifts do I have that I feel are special for me?
  
• Do I use these talents/gifts in my work? Do I use them in my free time? Do I use these in my family?
  
• Do I use them to help without expecting anything in return?
  
• How often do I spend time in prayer and in reading Scripture, especially the Gospels, to dwell on God speaking directly to me because He loves me and He needs me?
  

Walk with me daily Lord, so I come to understand the joy of doing Your will. Amen.