July 16, 2023
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071623.cfm
Is 55:10-11 Ps 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14
God speaks through Isaiah today with the line:
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
Then in today’s Gospel Jesus tells us:
But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
The divine message of God comes down to us like rain and snow through two main methods, tradition and also Holy Scripture. They go hand in hand but today we will focus on Holy Scripture - the Bible. This book, or book of books is broken into two main divisions, the Old and the New Testament. St Augustine described the relationship between them as:
The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed.
However distinctly different they may seem they cannot be separated. The Old Testament contains forty-six books and the New Testament has twenty-seven. Both of them have been written down by man but divinely inspired by God through the Holy Spirit as St. Paul wrote to Timothy:
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Again, we turn to St. Augustine who wrote in the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation:
Therefore, since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully, and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of our salvation.
If I didn’t believe any of the above to be true, I wouldn’t be here preaching to you today, I wouldn’t be a deacon and I wouldn’t be Catholic - I’d probably be off fishing. Why? (not why fishing, why am I Catholic) Because the Catholic Church holds the true sacred deposit, the canon of scripture.
Today we also hear that we cannot be where the word of God goes to die! Jesus tells us several times that we must hear the word of God and then bear fruit of it.
But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
So that’s fantastic, isn’t it? But how do we become rich fertile soil? We need to know Jesus and love Jesus. We do this through reading and studying sacred scripture. If you have a bible don’t be afraid to read it and if you don’t have one get one! My wife and I are big fans of the Didache Bible which has commentaries based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, that bible gives you the best of both worlds! My bible is a great fertilizer for the soil of my soul!
Another way is through the study of scripture. Today you heard readings from the Old Testament books of Isaiah and Psalms. Then we heard from the New Testament books of Romans and Matthew. I hope you were paying attention, there will be a quiz outside today after Mass! Put down the bulletin and give God your full focus while here at Mass to the readings, to the Homily, to all that the priest says and does - it’s all from sacred scripture! We didn’t make this up, God did!
Here at Holy Family, we are always trying to do something to aid us all in that endeavor, sign up for one! Come till your soil at the men’s group Thursday nights or the Tuesday night women’s small groups. If you are just visiting, then welcome, find out what your own church is doing to further your faith and become that deep rich soil that Jesus was talking about. Then when satan comes along and sows his weeds of doubt you will be able to withstand those trials and temptations.
When you open the Holy Gospel, think that what is written there—the words and deeds of Christ—is something that you should not only know, but live. Everything, every point that is told there, has been gathered, detail-by-detail, for you to make it come alive in the individual circumstances of your life.
St. Josemaria Escriva
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