Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 11:25-30)
Today’s reading is made up of the words of Jesus. The initial two verses are addressed to the Father, the remainder addressed to his listeners.
Jesus rejoices in those whose hearts are open to receive and to learn. He makes clear that he is the way to the Father. It is through knowing him that we come to know the Father. It is the Son alone who fully knows the Father and it is through the Son that those who are ready to receive and learn come to know the reality of God.
Do I allow the life of God, Father, Son and Spirit, into my mind and heart?
Do I welcome and trust in the loving care of Jesus?
We pray for those who are overburdened with the problems of life.
We pray for the courage to take up the yoke of Christ and follow him.
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 13:1-23)
The central discourse in chapter 13 is a collection of the parables of Jesus. Our reading this Sunday extends for twenty-three verses. The opening parable of the Sower is all about hearing, about really listening, about responding and about bearing fruit.
Later in the chapter Jesus will explain that the seed represents the ‘word of the kingdom’, and that it falls into different situations and suffers serious fates. The obvious question is what kind of reception are we providing for God’s word. The challenge is to produce a hundredfold, which in agricultural terms would be a fantastic, indeed impossible, yield. With the grace of God we can yield a harvest. Our lives may be marked by suffering and struggle, but we know from the life of Christ that this is the way to true life. It is by his grace that we reach ‘the freedom and glory’ of the children of God.
How do I react to ‘the word of the kingdom’?
Am I able to see my sufferings as part of a process of being born to new life?
We pray for all those who sow the seed of the word, that they may do so with wisdom and love.
We pray for those who resist the attraction of the gospel.
Fr Adrian Graffy