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+THE SEED ON GOOD GROUND
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time-A
When I first read through this Sunday’s Scriptures I was struck by their
feminine character, the earthy imagery. They speak of the earth being watered so
as to become fertile and fruitful. They speak of all creation “groaning in labor
pains, eagerly expecting the revelation of the children of God,” of soil that
nourishes or fails to nourish the seed sown on it. They speak of receptivity, of
allowing the transformative power of God’s word to take hold of us. They are
about openness, of letting God’s presence expand our horizons and change our
lives. The Word of God is indeed living and active and we are assured, it will
achieve the end for which it was sent.
These Scripture texts are especially apt in view of the meetings in Scotland
this past week when world leaders have attempted to look more honestly at the
effects of a world economy, how all of human life is intimately interrelated.
They have also focused on the major issue of global climate change, the fact
that the United States through its representatives, is in heavy denial about the
way we are polluting the environment. Our texts are calling us this Sunday to
just this awareness of the deep relatedness of all things, how the watered earth
is what gives seed to the sower and bread to the hungry, that true hearers of
word, as Rahner would define the Christian, are those who see creation itself
longing “to be set free from the slavery of corruption so as to share in the
glorious freedom of the children of God.”
More urgent than ever is it that we not ignore a guiding presence in our world,
a presence of which Merton writes: “There is in all things an inexhaustible
sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy. It rises up
in wordless gentleness and flows out to us from the unseen roots of all created
being, welcoming us tenderly, saluting us with indescribable humility. This is
at once our own being, our own nature, the Gift of our Creator’s Thought and Art
within us, speaking as Hagia Sophia, speaking as our sister, Wisdom.” If
Christians could only begin to see the pervasive inter-relatedness of all
things, of all members of the human family. This is authentic Wisdom.
One is saddened by the violence that has occurred on the subways and streets of
London, the religious fanaticism that gives rise to it. But can we as a Nation
begin to see the quiet but far more violent terrorism of our affluent culture
that lives off the slave labor of the 3rd world’s poor, that pollutes the very
air we breath with debilitating effect on countless people. Can we even begin to
reflect honestly on the violence inflicted by a military based economy, the very
thing perhaps, the terrorists in London are trying to bring to our attention?
These are some of the questions I believe our Scriptures this morning are
begging us to ask.
The gospel touches closer to home with its parable of the sower, as it is often
called. If one looks more carefully we see it is really a parable of the soil.
Jesus is asking each one of us just how rich a soil we are willing to be for the
Word of God, how deep a root we are willing to let it take. Do we want Holy
Wisdom to take hold of 30 or 60 percent of us or are we willing to let it take
hold of a 100 percent of our lives. I suspect women have a far better grasp of
this parable than men. Whether it is the relation of soil to seed, of a woman’s
womb to a child, of our environment to the spiritual life, you more readily see
the relation, the interdependence, the progressive commitment and commingling of
life involved. It is an experience of reality, a vision of the world our society
is often blind to as a result of sin. I suspect this is what Jesus means in our
gospel text when he says “gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly
hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes..” In today’s world more than
ever, it is urgent that we attend the call to allow God’s wisdom to fill our
hearts and empower them.
As one of your own members has recently spoken out publicly, Sr. Elaine in her
talk in Louisville, “to live lean” is the only way to really escape violence.
“Living lean” is to live “with an attitude of care and of compassion.” It is the
future of our planet. Isn’t this what we celebrate in the Eucharist, one who
lived with Wisdom. Confronting the blindness of his time, he loved the
environment that sustained him. Whether it was the lily of the field, a grain of
mustard seed or a vine with its branches, he saw the gentle hand of God in them
all, most of all in the poor and oppressed of his society. Lifted on the cross,
with his mother at his side, he has shown the whole world the great compassion
of God, what God wills to accomplish in every human heart.
Is. 55: 10-11; Ps. 65:10-14; Rom.8:18-23; Mt. 13:1-23
Michael Casagram, OCSO
Homily for 10 July 2005
Sisters of Loretto
Loretto, Kentucky
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