15th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME A
DO I LISTEN TO HIS WORD?
MT 13; 1-9
MESSAGE
The Gospel today urges us to consider how we stand before the Word of God. For our God is not a silent God, though he certainly loves silence and speaks through it. The God of Israel is a God who speaks. He spoke to the patriarchs; he spoke through the prophets: “Thus, says the Lord…” And the letter to the Hebrews rightly says, that in the last days, the Lord spoke through his Son (Heb 1: 1-2).
The Lord Jesus, Only Begotten Son, spoke powerfully just like his Father. He preached with authority and only proclaimed the truth, the beauty, and the purity of God’s Word. He was the very Word of God speaking through his life and service. And he continues to communicate to us today through his powerful Spirit.
Therefore, this Word reaches us today as we receive it in faith through the Scriptures, the teaching of the church, the inspiration of the saints, and the various challenges of our daily lives. The question is, like the types of soil that received the seed sown on it, how do I receive God’s Word?
Do I hear but pay little attention because I think I know enough of it? Do I listen momentarily and then return to my business as if nothing happened? Do I encounter it but put no trust in it? Or do I receive it for what it truly is, a gift of inspiration, strength, transformation, and salvation?
God, through Jesus and the Spirit, speaks, but not so that we can admire him as a communicator. He sows the Word not to impress, but to reach out. He speaks out of love, because he desires a relationship with us. The parable of the sower describes how different people consider relating to the Lord in their daily lives.
REFLECT
Are we sensitive to God’s Word wherever we encounter it – in prayer, at Mass, in the routine of daily life? Let us pray that like the good soil, we will open our hearts to building a deeper, livelier, and more meaningful relationship with the Lord. Amen.
