The Value of Hearing Stories:
The Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2026
July 12, 2026
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Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 65; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23
In the heart of the Gospels, Jesus told us stories about God’s project in the world mostly using parables. Today’s parable is about the Sower and the Seed. Many people have wondered why Jesus used this style instead of speaking plainly. Even his disciples wanted him to speak clearly and pointedly. Jesus was onto something, and perhaps we need to return to the practice of telling stories so we can hear them in our own contexts.
Jesus stays faithful to telling the truth, but he changes how he presents it. His style invites reflection and honors a person’s freedom rather than compelling a person to believe what he says. His style awakens curiosity and allows us to discover the truth for ourselves.
It is obvious that people do not change their minds when they are presented with logic, facts, or empirical data. Everyone puts her own spin on the data. Facts are disputed and mistrusted and they often become weapons in debates rather than invitations to understanding. When we feel confronted or attacked, we instinctively defend our existing beliefs. We push away from the ones who misuse data, especially when they hit us over the head with it. Jesus recognized how the human heart works. Rather than arguing, he told stories that touch the imagination and leave solutions open-ended. He knew better than to try to persuade the intellect.
A book making its rounds on the New York Times Best Sellers list is called “Theo of Golden.” The premise of the book is that a distinguished, mature man named Theo listens to the stories of townsfolk whose stories are otherwise left untold. His patience and skill at listening and coaxing the stories out of each person changes both Theo and the person whose story becomes known. The whole town becomes changed while they develop a genuine affection for one another. Theo models for us a ministry of accompaniment and listening. Theo provides us a way of being that the Church desires to adopt. It takes time and skill and lots of patience.
How can we do this? First, Jesus began with shared experiences instead of opposing positions. He spoke about ordinary life stuff that everyone recognized. Instead of us talking about faith or morality, perhaps we start with common human experiences like loneliness, hope, raising children, disappointment, or the desire for meaning. Second, he told stories rather than deliver arguments. He went around someone’s defensiveness and allowed persons to ask, “Where or who I am in this story?”
Third, he asked questions that remain unanswered through the ages, like, “Who is my neighbor?” or “What do you seek?” He stayed away from making declarations. Instead, he invited reflection and interpretations based on individual experiences. Statements shut down conversations; questions begin them. Fourth, he appealed to the heart as well as the mind. People want to respect the truth but are moved by what is beautiful and good. A story of compassion often changes hearts more deeply than a well-reasoned argument.
We Christians are to show the world the humility of Christ. While many speak of certitude and outrage, we offer a distinct way forward. People listen more readily to those who are willing to listen first. Parables are acts of respect because they do not force belief. Parables respect human freedom. Parables show us that love always invites. It can never coerce. We Christians are invited to speak more like Christ and to encourage others to tell their stories. When we listen, really take time to listen, we are filled with images that awaken wonder and astonishment. We find a truth that we can affirm. We can hold onto questions that stir one’s consciences, and our way of life makes the Gospel, God’s plan of fulfillment, credible. I want to leave you with this question: Do you desire this way of proceeding? Are these your values?
Scripture for Daily Mass
Monday: (Isaiah 1) Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.
Tuesday: (Isaiah 7) Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field, and say to him: Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear.
Wednesday: (Isaiah10) To seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down like the mud of the streets. But this is not what he intends, nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy, to make an end of nations not a few.
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 36) When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: "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. They covet fields and seize them; houses, and they take them.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 10) And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple–amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.” When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.
Tuesday: (Matthew 11) Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
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. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
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; and you will find rest for yourselves.
Friday (Matthew 12) When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat?
Saturday (Matthew 12) Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
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
- July 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.
- July 13, 1556. Ignatius, gravely ill, handed over the daily governance of the Society to Juan de Polanco and Cristobal de Madrid.
- July 14, 1523. Ignatius departs from Venice on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
- July 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.
- July 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).
- July 17, 1581. Edmund Campion was arrested in England.
- July 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.
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