The Gospel According to Matthew – 2017.07.16
The Way of Ministry
Be
wary of the Gospel that extols the virtues of the disciples, of those who
became Apostles, and of the church that followed in their path.
There
are many more times in the narrative when Jesus gives a different teaching,
when the message is not: “to anyone who has, more will be given,” and “but
anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
More
often than this, Jesus teaches; “the first will be last, and the last will be
first.” And “to whom much has been given, much will be expected.”
Remember,
the enemy is not Satan (a fictitious being), the evil one. The enemy is the
fear, and impatience, and gluttony, or avarice that lies within the heart of
each and every one of us.
Remember,
on one day the birds may eat the seed that you cast, on another day, when you
cast your seeds on the same field they may not. Some seed will always be lost
to the birds of the field, but the birds will deposit it elsewhere, and the
grain will grow wild, in places you never expected.
Seeds
cast among thorns will grow, if the grain is not harvested, those seeds will
fall to the ground, only to grow again in the next season. The seed is never
static, in time even the seed left unharvested in thorny places, those seeds
will produce, and will grow strong enough to uproot the thorns that threatened
the harvest.
Do
not be aggrieved at the seed that fall on shallow soil, amend the soil, and
cast your seed again. Always be prepared in your ministry, and never be
overconfident.
Even
the farmer who has fields of rich soil, who is able to produce an abundant
harvest in on season, may find their fields, barren and scorched in the next.
The
conditions of our lives and Christian ministry are always changing.
The
enemy is not found among those to whom you preach, but in the prideful heart
and impatient heart.
A
Sower Went Out to Sow
Jesus
left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round
him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach,
and he told them many things in parables.
He
said, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the
edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of
rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there
was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and,
not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the
thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their
crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Listen, anyone who has
ears!’
Then
the disciples went up to him and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’
‘Because’ he replied, ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to
you, but they are not revealed to them. For anyone who has will be given more,
and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he
has will be taken away. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look
without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case
this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:
You
will listen and listen again, but not understand,
see
and see again, but not perceive.
For
the heart of this nation has grown coarse,
their
ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes,
for
fear they should see with their eyes,
hear
with their ears,
understand
with their heart,
and
be converted
and
be healed by me.
‘But
happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you
solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw
it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
‘You,
therefore, are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of
the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was
sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the
path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word
and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last;
let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls
away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the
word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and
so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the
man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest
and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
