Saturday, July 28, 2007

Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time


Readings for Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Commentary:

Reading 1 Ex 24:3-8

Following the presentation of the precepts of the Law, Moses gets consensus from all of the people whom God has brought out of bondage, the Children of Israel (Jacob) that they will follow the law handed down to them. Moses erects pillars, one for each tribe and makes a sacrifice to seal the covenant and sprinkles the people with the blood of the covenant sacrifice.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

Psalm 50 recalls the sealing of the covenant with sacrifice. It gives praise to God remembering his promise to the faithful that He would be with them as long as they kept the precepts of the covenant.

Gospel
Mt 13:24-30

Jesus tells another parable, about the harvest this time. Here we see his reference to the “good seed” and “bad seed”. The good seed here, since this is references as an analogy to the Kingdom of God, represents those who remain faithful to God’s laws and precepts. The “bad seed” represents those converted by God’s enemy who choke off the good seed and, in the eschaton, will be condemned to hell.

Reflection:

Jesus today gives us a story about those who are faithful vs. those who are not. We hear in the first reading from Exodus, Moses getting the promise of the children of Israel that they would follow all of God’s laws (actually more than a promise – committing to a covenant, a binding contract with God).
These two stories are clearly linked for us and the message becomes very clear. We have been given God’s precepts. They have come to us through his word and through the Church which he founded on this earth that we might continue to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through her. We choose each day to be either faithful to those precepts, or to turn our backs upon them. We choose each day if we will be good seed or bad.

It imagery used in the parable is really exquisite because if one looks at a field newly planted and sees all the new growth, it is difficult to tell which is good and which is bad until the plants mature and their identities become clear. It is by their fruit that we recognize them as good and bad. Similarly it is by the outcomes we affect each day that we know if what we have done is good or bad. That is not always easy to know. In some cases we do not know ourselves unless we examine our intentions. If what we do is our of love for ourselves and others, we have been the good seed. If on the other had our motives were selfish or hurtful, even if they appear on the surface to be good, we have fallen.

We are reminded today that in the end, we will stand before the high judge and he will look upon us and decide if we are good or bad seed and this decision will be made based upon our promises, kept or broken. Let us pray for the wisdom to make good choices.

Pax

[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The image is Moses Forbids the People to Follow Him, by James Tissot, 1896 -1900

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