Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon

Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon,
priest and martyr, and
Saint Paul Chong Hasang, martyr,
and their companions, martyrs

Biographical Information about St. Andrew Kim Taegon[1]
Biographical Information about St. Paul Chong Hasang

Readings for Saturday of the Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Commentary:

Reading 1: 1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-49

St. Paul anticipates an argument that might be posed by those who do not believe in the resurrection. He uses two analogies to describe what kind of form or essence will be assumed. The first analogy if the seed that must be planted in the ground in order to grow into “new life” The second analogy is that of the creation of the first earthly being Adam and comparing that physical form to the first born of the dead in Christ who had both earthly form and became the “New Adam” in the resurrection.

St. Paul is eloquent in describing the difference from the earthly form and the resurrected body. Where the earthly form may be flawed, the spiritual body in the resurrection will be perfect. St. Paul envisions a resurrected body with the qualities of glory, power, and spirituality which is a creation in God’s heavenly image.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 56:10c-12, 13-14
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

Psalm 56 is an individual lament. The psalmist expresses unbounded faith in God who will protect and lift up his faithful. The signer’s own fidelity wins salvation from God who rescues him from death. Placed against St. Paul’s description of the resurrected body, these strophes reflect the salvation of that resurrection as the faithful walk with God.

Gospel: Luke 8:4-15

Jesus uses the rich analogy of the seed (of faith given in Baptism) to show the various courses of faith in human endeavor. Because our selection gives not only the parable but the Lord’s explanation of its meaning the only historical not we will make is that, at that point in history in that region, when planting a field, the seed was sown first and then the field was plowed.

Reflection:

When we combine the reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians with the Parable of the Sower in the Gosple of St. Luke we are painted a question that must guide our spiritual journey. What is described in the analogy of the seed is not truly death, although it may have been described so by the authors of biblical times; but rather a metamorphosis. The seed that falls to the ground is not dead as it falls but inert life. It is life potential contained in a protective shell that waits for the right conditions to germinate and flourish.

The irony of this analogy is that in our earthly lives, much like the plant that creates the seed, we manufacture the outer shell of what will become the pod that contains our life potential, our eternal spirit when the body we wear in this life dies. That shell we create is the imperfect husk of sin that must be worn away before that pure life that God created may be released to blossom in heaven.

When St. Paul and Jesus spoke of the journey of seeds; calling and rising, they saw the pure life that God created that could be full of glory, “…the image of the heavenly one.” It is this potential to which we must apply ourselves. The Lord tells us how to avoid creating a shell so thick that our wait for germination in heaven must be a long one. He tells us that listening and following with our hearts may lead us quickly to him. That process; like the pupa that transforms into the beautiful butterfly is the path we must choose.

Pax
[1] The picture used today is “The Korean Martyrs” Artist and Date are Unknown
[2] After Links to Readings Expire