Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 13, 2008
Reflections on Isaiah 55:10-11
Romans 8:18-23
Matthew 13: 1-23
by Patricia Crowley, OSB.
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I. Introduction
How many words have you used so far today?.... and for what different feelings or functions did you use words since you got up this morning?
Words and “The Word” are central themes in today’s scripture readings.
Today, we come together to celebrate the 60th and 75th jubilees of two wonderful women – Sister Joanna Trapp and Sister Mary Cornella.
Both were teachers, and both found words each day to teach their message to their students.
The first reading, a very familiar passage from Isaiah, focuses on the word of God saying:
Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats,…so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void but shall do my will achieving the end for which I sent it.
The Word of God creates and gives life.
The psalm we used in response enhances these images of fertile land.
God’s word is creative, inviting, demanding, loving and purposeful. According to Isaiah, we are called to not only hear it but also to figure out what we are called to do – through that word.
II. Parable of the Seed in Matthew
The gospel passage we just heard “proclaimed” tells a wonderful story about the seed (same image as Isaiah!). It speaks of how the seed can flourish if the right soil of life is available to it. The images are clear and, in fact, in the subsequent verses of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gives an explanation of the images in the parable. In this very familiar story, I have always thought about the seed as being the word of God and the various places where the seed landed being the attitudes or the hearts of the people who heard the word and received it into (or rejected it from) their own lives. Many commentators give that explanation also.
However, in the translation that we use in the official lectionary for the longer version of today’s gospel, the one I read over and over again as I thought about what words I would use to reflect on this parable today, a different interpretation emerged for me.
Here are the words used for Jesus’ explanation of this parable:
Hear then, this parable……….The seed sown…..is the one who hears the word of the kingdom of God;
Or in another translation:
The seed is the person who hears the Word of the reign of God.
That is quite different. That “new hearing” of this parable spoke to me of Incarnation.
The seed, here, is not the word itself but rather it is the one who hears the Word, those who, as human beings, have become capable in a new way of the Divinity living within them and in their world. What a marvelous presentation of the reality of The Word who became flesh and who rose from the dead and who continues to be active in the world through the people who “hear the word of the very real presence of God” each day.
In that vein, let’s take a moment to look at the sower. We recognize God as the sower of the seed. I had just read about a little garden that was discovered in the prison at Guantanamo, Cuba, where our country is keeping hostage hundreds of people who are suspected of crimes of terrorism. It was reported in a legal proceeding that a small group of inmates were able to save seeds from the meager food they were given and with lots of care they managed to grow some things to eat such as watermelon, peppers etc. That was the image that came to mind as I began to think about this gospel parable.
The farming conditions in the times of Jesus and the sower presented here were quite different. The sower, in the parable, scatters the seed with some abandon and it fell on many different kinds of ground.
The seed as Word is a rich image; the seed, as the person who hears the word, is even richer for me, and I hope for you!
Just think about the amazing reality of the incarnate God, who lives in each and every one of the billions of people on our planet. They, and we, are the seed scattered in “many different types of societies, environments, cultures, religions, and nations”? Within each of these, the seed of the Incarnate Word finds its roots, is nourished, or shrivels up and dies.The challenge seems to be how to nurture the soil, how to be full human beings who can hear the word of God and promote the growth of that incarnate reality in our world.
The two women we celebrate today have obviously welcomed the Word of God throughout their lives and, in the second interpretation of the Seed, they have become that Word. Their lives bespeak the reign of God in our world.
III. Jubilarians
Sister Joanna and Sister Mary come from very different backgrounds and places. Each has taken a different path in ministry and service. In many ways, in these two women lie two distinct stories of this Benedictine community: One from Illinois, raised in Chicago and one from Colorado; One who taught at St. Scholastica Academy, Chicago for many years and one who taught in elementary schools and then, served at St. Scholastica Academy, Canon City Colorado. In other ways, they tell our story also: each is a woman of dedicated service and fervent prayer; each is willing to take on tasks as she is able; each completes those tasks with great fidelity; and each faces the challenges of life with patience and grace; each has a deep love of her family of origin and of this Benedictine community.
Sister Mary Cornella is our eldest member. Mary has served in a myriad of ways wherever she has been in her religious life and always has done so with a smile. These days you might find her making her way from her infirmary room up to the first floor of the monastery and to my office to open the day’s mail that she finds there each day. Her determined spirit is coupled with a wonderful smile and a positive approach to life no matter the challenges. One of the joys of my first year as prioress has been to get to know Sister Mary in new ways. Her 75 years in community have, indeed, been well-lived.
I first came to know of Sister Joanna through her sister, Norene, who was my freshman history teacher and one from whom I learned a great deal. Sister Joanna is a consistent, thoughtful woman and, as far as I can discern, never misses the birthdays and the name days of those she loves. The images of the past and of the present which filled her classroom walls, typifies her love of history and her dedication to her students. Joanna is a woman who is very aware of the details of the present and what a gift that is! I was thinking that her love of history, perhaps, gives her the wisdom to know how to celebrate the present moment. We are grateful to celebrate this present moment of jubilee with her today!
IV. Conclusion
Words and “The Word” are key to our celebration today, not necessarily the multiplicity of words that we use each day but it is the Word of God in the fullness of human life in each person, that seed given with loving abandon by God that we are called to nourish and to bring to its fullness.
That Word Incarnate in each of us is the focus of today’s gospel and, indeed the focus of the Eucharistic action in which we participate here today and throughout our lives.