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Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture Study for

Isaiah provides us with a glimpse of what ecologists today would refer to as  the integrity of creation. Focusing on precipitation in the forms of rain and snow,  he traces the cycle that it takes. His understanding comes from observation of  nature, the primary source of wisdom. This metaphor assures us that we can  be as confident of the power of the word of God as we can be of the working of  the natural world. Just as nature produces miracles upon which we can rely and  because of which we can survive, so the word of God can effect miracles upon  which we can rely and because of which we can live. 

Paul’s teaching on the end of time takes a very interesting turn. He maintains  that the new life of which he speaks is not limited to the human sphere. Rather,  the entire created world participates in this transformation. The entire created  world is somehow swept up with humankind into this eschatological drama,  awaiting the revelation that will be granted the children of God, not as spectators, but as participants. Paul assures the Christians that they already possess  the first fruits of the Spirit, a pledge that guarantees they will be brought into full  transformation. By implication, all of creation will be brought along with them. 

The Gospel parable focuses neither on the sower nor on the seed, but on the  receptivity of the soil. The parable is not a difficult story to understand. But what  does it really mean? Jesus provides his disciples an allegorical interpretation of  the parable. In each case described, the sown word is actually heard; to some  extent it is accepted. Jesus is not referring to outright rejection from outsiders,  but to the way followers receive the word of God. When one understands the  meaning of the parable, one is apt to wonder: What kind of soil am I? How receptive am I to the word of God? 

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Sowing Seed—Attentively

Farming has changed. Imagine, just for a moment, how Jesus  might have told this parable differently today: 

A sower went out to sow. The seed was the Word of God,  precious and life-giving, too good to be scattered about without  careful preparation. Therefore, the Sower paid careful attention  to the soil: where it was rocky, he dug out the rocks; where  it was too acidic or too alkaline, he adjusted the pH. Late in  the autumn, he added three inches of manure and planted a  cover crop, which he then turned under in early March. When  planting season came, he set the seeds one by one in rows  spaced six inches apart. Where the seeds dropped on the rocky  path, he placed them back into the rich loam. He sent the sun  to shine. He watered the seeds carefully. He asked the Holy  Spirit to breathe on them each day. And before the weeds got  too big, he hoed the soil, being careful not to damage the roots  of the Word of God plants. With such personal care, the seeds  grew tall and bore fruit, a hundred-fold to the glory of God. 

What do you think? In Jesus’ original version, the message is that  our receptivity to the Word of God is what matters. In the modern  version, as God’s hands, we share in sowing the Word of God. Do  we “scatter the Word of God” without attending to the soil? As  much devotion needs to go into what is being received as to what  we are saying. Sometimes we have to be willing to sacrifice our own  assumptions to nurture the growth of others. More nourishment, a  little less acidic, a bit of weeding . . . the care with which we plant  the Word of God: it matters. 

Consider/Discuss 

  • We cannot make seeds grow; that is God’s job. But we can attend to the  conditions within which growth is most likely to occur. What have you  yourself seen? What “soil conditions” have most helped your faith to grow? 
  • The reign of God is worth our best efforts. Yet throughout Christian  history, because of this parable, “they’re not good soil” has excused  ministry that has not borne fruit. (To be fair, some soil is so acidic that  nothing will grow.) Rather than pointing a finger at others’ unreceptivity,  how can we ourselves become more adept at preparing soil?

Living and Praying with the Word 

Lord, you give us rain from heaven to water the earth. Your  showers keep the earth soft. You want your word to bear fruit; you  want it to achieve what you sent it for. We, in turn, want to serve you  and your Word. Teach us what we need to know so that the words  that we say will be living and effective. Holy Spirit, come to the aid  of our weakness so that we bear fruit that will last.

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Scripture Study for

The first reading concludes chapters 40–55 of Isaiah, most of which  come from the end of the exilic period. This section of Isaiah, which  focuses on God’s intention to restore a people under judgment, begins  with attention to God’s “word” as sure and effective (40:5, 8). What  God announces will happen simply because it is the word of God.  Now God promises that repentant sinners will find mercy because,  unlike human beings, God does not nurse grudges but is instead  “generous in forgiving” (55:7). Those who cannot believe in God’s  mercy or in the divine intention to save are exhorted to trust in the  always-efficacious word of God. 

Continuing his line of argument from the last couple of weeks,  Paul reflects on what it means to have died with Christ. Not only  have the baptized, now “in Christ,” been released from slavery to sin  and death, they have also been adopted as God’s children and heirs  along with Christ. But this inheritance, which is their glorification,  comes with a price, suffering (8:14–17), which is nevertheless a  small price to pay for what awaits them. And not only them, but  all of creation, which right now is also subject to death. Just as “the  children of God,” who in their physical bodies share in the corruption  of the created world, will one day experience the “redemption of our  bodies,” so too will all creation be redeemed. 

Jesus’ parable describes the three classic obstacles to doing the will  of God: the evil one, who prevents the word from being truly heard;  the flesh, that part of the human person that will abandon God’s will  if it means struggle or trouble; and the world, those aspects of human  society that are opposed to God, yet appealing to the flesh. Jesus speaks  in enigmatic parables because the kingdom is only for those who are  willing to put in the time and struggle to understand its proclamation,  which cannot be appreciated on a single, simple hearing. The medium,  then, is the message: the kingdom of God, in which the will of God is  known and lived, is for those who are willing to sacrifice to enter it.  This has been Jesus’ message from the beginning.

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Our Good Neighbor God

The word “neighbor” is rooted in the Old English words “near” (neah) and “a dweller” (gebur). A neighbor, then, is one who dwells near. As a boy, I lived in what was called a row home; all the houses on our street were attached. Our neighbors were those who literally lived next door. 

Today’s readings take the definition of a neighbor beyond physical nearness.  When the lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” he was asking about the requirement of the law that commanded that one love one’s neighbor as oneself.  Jesus’ answer went to the heart of the issue. To be a neighbor was to reach out to help anyone in need, setting aside any barriers that either society or selfishness might set up. To be a neighbor was to open one’s heart to another, recognizing in the other the image of the God who created them. To be a neighbor was to treat another with mercy. 

When Moses said God’s law was “something very near, already in your mouths and in your hearts,” he was presenting God as a true neighbor, as near as our heartbeat. When Paul said Jesus was both the image of the invisible God and the head of his body, the church, could any image better capture the nearness of  Christ and his church? St. Teresa of Ávila echoed this when she said, “Christ has  no body now but yours, no hands or feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes  through which Christ’s compassion looks upon the world.”  

Consider/Discuss

  • Is the basic choice to be either a neighbor whose love touches other lives, or a parasite that lives off other lives? 
  • Can being a member of Christ’s body move you to drawing nearer to someone today? 

Responding to the Word

God, who placed your law in our hearts, help us to remember your nearness to us in the depths of our being, and to allow your Son’s law of love to guide what we see, say, and do. Increase our openness to your Spirit and how your Spirit guides us.

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Scripture Study for

Moses instructs the people about the law’s importance and its accessibility.  To those who may say that the law is too difficult to understand or too lofty to observe, Moses replies: No! It is neither mysterious nor remote. Even a cursory examination will show that while it is indeed the word of God, it comes to us through human experience. In other words, the law of God is as close to us as is our own human life. This is a bold claim because it identifies human experience as the place where the word of God is to be found.  

The exalted description of Christ in the second reading extols the divine character and activity of Christ rather than his human nature and earthly existence.  Paul characterizes Christ as the image of God, firstborn, the beginning, the head of the church. Each image adds a significant dimension to our understanding of Christ. Christ occupies the place of preeminence over the rest of creation, a preeminence that makes creation dependent upon him. Using the metaphor of body, Paul depicts both the union that exists between Christ and the church and the preeminence that is Christ’s as head of that body. Finally, Christ is seen as the agent of reconciliation. 

A lawyer challenges Jesus’ knowledge of the law. Jesus shows that he knows and conforms to that law, and then he turns the lawyer’s challenge back on him by asking him to answer his own questions. The lawyer quotes the two passages from scripture that encompass all of one’s responsibilities. Jesus responds with a  parable in which he changes the question from “Who is my neighbor?” to “What  does it mean to be a neighbor?” The lawyer had asked about required works and is instructed about heartfelt love. The admonition is striking: Go and do likewise!  Put aside racial or religious prejudices in order to meet the needs of others! Put aside all other responsibilities in order to love the other!  

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