Hear it. Be open. Let it Sink in. The Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020

   Hear it. Be open. Let it Sink in.

The Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020

www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com

predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673

July 12, 2020

Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 65; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23

The Parable of the Sower and the Seed seems rather mundane to us Christians who have heard this story for years. We get it. The point seems obvious. We think, of course, we are the seed planted in good soil and our faith will be able to endure all the weeds and tests because we know Jesus. The parable seems clear to us. Doesn’t every person see the clarity? He ends with “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Let’s put this in the context of the ways people respond to COVID-19.

Scientists and the head of the Center for Disease Control repeatedly tell us about the dangers of the virus and the need for us to physically distance from one another and to wear masks as a way to lessen the spread of the virus. It is a mantra that is repeated on the daily news until we can figure out alternative ways to eradicate or tame the virus. It makes sense and it is a small effort on our part to protect the sacred lives of the people around us, and yet, two-thirds of the country are seeing surges in cases because people are not respecting the precautions. I’m not here to enter into the debate about rights versus responsibilities, but I am using it to illustrate the parable, for if we cannot hear the truth about precautions that protect us and others, how can we hear and receive the Word of God?

I wonder, “What is it that we hear?,” and “How do we process what we hear?” Two people can hear the exact same words and respond in polar opposite ways. If our worldviews are completely different, we are not able to discover the truth within our positions. We do not trust any news source that is not the source that we favor, and we are in the practice of disbelieving and deconstructing rather than building up, connecting, and former essential relationships between our ideas. It is unlikely that these two people can hear the Word of God and get the same message.

As Christians, we are to read Sacred Scripture and to form a relationship in prayer with Christ. We are to form and inform our conscience, and no two people will form it in the same way, but it allows us to be genuine in our pursuit of the truth, the real, the genuine. Prayer is about opening or remaining open to God’s friendship and listening to what God has to say uniquely to us, and that ought to make us more open, more forgiving, and more loving. This is how we can tell if the Word of God has settled into a person. This is the proof of the parable. We may have many misfortunate conditions around us, but whatever our circumstances, no matter how rocky the soil or how thick the weeds, we can still receive the Word of God into our souls.

We begin by being open, and then hearing the Word and integrating it into our lives, which means processing it against moral principles and verifiable data from real life, and then discerning how it fits into our life. We strive to do all we can to be open, to be like God, who is slow to anger, full of understanding, and known for the mercy we give to others gratuitously. The proof that the seed is planted and is sprouting in our lives is that we are kind, growing in our charity in actions and in our words, speaking words to neighbors and strangers to affirm them, by diminishing drama and putting matters in perspective, by being a positive factor in the system, and contributing to the betterment of society, and by modeling our patience and teaching others how to handle the challenges of life. Others will look to you and know that your character is one that is informed by God’s word, and your friendships in the Lord will continue to grow.  

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading:

Monday: (Isaiah 1) What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the Lord. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure.

Tuesday: (Isaiah 7) When word came to the house of David that Aram was encamped in Ephraim, the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.

Wednesday: (Isaiah 10) Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger, my staff in wrath. Against an impious nation I send him, and against a people under my wrath I order him To seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down like the mud of the streets.

Thursday: (Isaiah 26) The way of the just is smooth; the path of the just you make level. Yes, for your way and your judgments, O Lord, we look to you; Your name and your title are the desire of our souls.

Friday (Isaiah 38) “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover.” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord:

Saturday (Micah 2) Woe to those who plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches; In the morning light they accomplish it when it lies within their power.

Gospel: 

Monday: (Matthew 10) “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

Tuesday: (Matthew 11) Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.

Wednesday (Matthew 11) I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

Thursday (Matthew 11) Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.

Friday (Matthew 12) Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.

Saturday (Matthew 12) The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known.

Saints of the Week

July 13: Henry, king (972-1024) was a descendent of Charlemagne who became king of Germany and the Holy Roman Emperor. His wife had no offspring. He merged the church's affairs with the secular government and built the cathedral in the newly erected diocese of Bamberg. He was a just ruler who paid close attention to his prayer.

July 14: Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) was the daughter of a Christian Algonquin mother and a non-Christian Mohawk chief. As a child, she contracted smallpox and was blinded and severely disfigured by it. She was baptized on Easter Sunday 1767 by Jesuit missionaries and was named after Catherine of Siena. She kept a strong devotion to the Eucharist and cared for the sick. She is named "the Lily of the Mohawks."

July 15: Bonaventure, bishop and Doctor (1221-1273), was given his name by Francis of Assisi to mean "Good Fortune" after he was cured of serious childhood illnesses. He joined the Franciscans at age 20 and studied at the University of Paris. Aquinas became his good friend. Bonaventure was appointed minister general of the Franciscans and was made a cardinal. He participated in the ecumenical council at Lyons to reunite the Greek and Latin rites. Aquinas died on the way to the council.

July 16: Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the patronal feast of the Carmelites. The day commemorates the day Simon Stock was given a brown scapular by Mary in 1251. In the 12th century, Western hermits settled on Mount Carmel overlooking the plain of Galilee just as Elijah did. These hermits built a chapel to Mary in the 13th century and began a life of solitary prayer.

July 18: Camillus de Lellis (1550-1614), began his youthful life as a soldier where he squandered away his father's inheritance through gambling. He was cared for by Capuchins, but was unable to join them because of a leg ailment. He cared for the sick in hospitals that were deplorable. He founded an order that would care for the sick and dying and for soldiers injured in combat.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Jul 12, 1594. In the French Parliament Antoine Arnauld, the Jansenist, made a violent attack on the Society, charging it with rebellious feelings toward King Henry IV and with advocating the doctrine of regicide.

·      Jul 13, 1556. Ignatius, gravely ill, handed over the daily governance of the Society to Juan de Polanco and Cristobal de Madrid.

·      Jul 14, 1523. Ignatius departs from Venice on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

·      Jul 15, 1570. At Avila, St Teresa had a vision of Blessed Ignatius de Azevedo and his companions ascending to heaven. This occurred at the very time of their martyrdom.

·      Jul 16, 1766. The death of Giusuppe Castiglione, painter and missionary to China. They paid him a tribute and gave him a state funeral in Peking (Beijing).

·      Jul 17, 1581. Edmund Campion was arrested in England.

·      Jul 18, 1973. The death of Fr. Eugene P Murphy. Under his direction the Sacred Heart Hour, which was introduced by Saint Louis University in 1939 on its radio station [WEW], became a nationwide favorite.