15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A By Tobe Eze

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

FIRST READING
Isaiah 55:10—11

SECOND READING
Romans 8:18—23

GOSPEL
Matthew 13:1—23

THEME: MANY HEARERS BUT FEW DOERS.

Have we ever asked ourselves the question why our lives have not changed since we have been hearing the word of God? Since our childhood till now we have been hearing the word of God in Churches, homes, cars, buses, roads, morning, afternoon, evening, night and every nook and crony but we are still behaving the way we behave. If we look at our various villages, we will see that there are few pagans but we have many evils here and there. Who are those doing them? A man bought a new motorcycle, the day he bought the motorcycle, he went to a beer parlor. After drinking, he left the motorcycle there because he drank to stupor. In the morning, he started to shout that thieves have taken the motorcycle. His wife called him and told him that he did not come home with it. When he went back to the beer parlor, he saw the motorcycle safe and sound. On reaching home, he told the wife that they will go for Thanksgiving on Sunday. After mass he told the Rev. Fr. To come and bless the motorcycle. On reaching where it was parked, there was no motorcycle like that one. It was stolen in the Church. My question is, those who stole that motorcycle, are they Christians or pagans? Are they those listening to the word of God? Continue Reading

In the first reading, the prophet said that God’s word cannot go back to him without bearing fruit. What is confusing me today is. All these words of God that we have been hearing, do they go back to him or are all these depravity in morality everywhere the fruit they are bearing? Emphatically NO.

The answer to these questions are all in today’s gospel. It is because some of us go to Church but do not take anything from the church. They are only going for people to see that they go. They do not go for them to learn and change but to show people that they go. They are those seeds that fell on the road or wayside. Some enjoy the word when a priest or any preacher that preaches very well preach. They accept the word and rejoice when they are hearing it, but immediately they leave the church or the place they hear the word, they forget about it because they do not have the internal interest to take the word. They are those seeds that fell on the rocky ground. Some have the internal interest to take the word. They listen and understand the word. They take it home, but due to many family, community, village, personal and so on problems, they forget about the word. For example: some will like to follow God’s word as it is but due to the people around them, they fall out. Some will like to tell the truth in the village but majority or the prominent ones are on the wrong side, because of them, they will keep quiet or join them.

These things are the things that are making us today to have many listener but few doers. To have many evils than good deeds. To have moral depravity and decadence everywhere. Let us examine ourselves today to know the group we are into. The last group that hear the word and practice it, it is not that they don’t have challenges facing them and the word but, they have internal disposition to hear, understand and practice the word. They put God before every other things in their lives. They value God and his words. These are those the prophet Isaiah is talking about in the first reading. They are those who bear fruit from the seed which is the word. They bear in hundreds, sixties and thirtyfold.

Let us today join the last group so that we will bear fruit from the word. Fruit that will last. If we hear, accept, understand and practice the word we will become his branches for he is the Vine and when we are in him, we will bear more fruit. His father will prone us to bear more. (John 15:1-7).

 THANKS AND HAPPY SUNDAY