Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary) 

On Saturdays in Ordinary Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary is allowed.[1] Mass texts may be taken from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from a Votive Mass, or from the special collection of Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary. (USCCB recommends: #20. Holy Mary, the New Eve)
 

"The Sower" 
by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, 1880

Readings for Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings and Commentary: [4]
 
Reading 1: 1 Timothy 6:13-16
 
Beloved:
I charge you before God, who gives life to all things,
and before Christ Jesus,
who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate
for the noble confession,
to keep the commandment without stain or reproach
until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ
that the blessed and only ruler
will make manifest at the proper time,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light,
and whom no human being has seen or can see.
To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.
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Commentary on 1 Tm 6:13-16
 
Following St. Paul’s instructions regarding various ministries, here using Christ’s passion as an example, he lays a solemn obligation on his student. The apostle exhorts Timothy to dedicate himself completely and selflessly to the work of ministry. It is most likely that the commandment he speaks of is the requirement to keep God first in his life. The passage concludes with an eloquent liturgical profession or doxology of faith in the Savior.
 
CCC: 1 Tm 6:15-16 2641; 1 Tm 6:16 52
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
 
R. (2) Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
 
Sing joyfully to the LORD all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
 
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
 
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
 
For he is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
 
Psalm 100 is a communal song of thanksgiving in which the psalmist invites the people to come to God with praise and thanksgiving for the wondrous things he has done. In this selection the psalmist gives thanks for God’s favor and his unending support in all good things. It affirms God’s saving grace given to his sons and daughters through all generations. The song recalls God the Creator whose love and fidelity knows no bounds.
 
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Gospel: Luke 8:4-15
 
When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.
“A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold.”
After saying this, he called out,
“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
 
Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.
He answered,
“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;
but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.
 
“This is the meaning of the parable.
The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”
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Commentary on Lk 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 note 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. (See a more extensive commentary in Matthew 13:1-23.)
 
CCC: Lk 8:6 2731; Lk 8:10 1151; Lk 8:13-15 2847; Lk 8:13 2731; Lk 8:15 368, 2668
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Reflection:
 
Much has been said about the parable of the Sower (even in this space) and much can be extracted from that wonderful parable.  It reminds us so quickly that regardless of our station in life or place on the path of faith, we can always wander off into the weeds or rocks and fall prey to the elements around us.
 
Some time ago I was approached by the parents of a young lady who had gone off to college, and her parents were very concerned.  She was brought up in a good home, although one that suffered the fate many have suffered in this modern age, that of divorce.  Shortly after that unfortunate event occurred, the young girl, then nine, began to rebel against the faith. Her mother remarried, but the young lady grew up with faith that was almost an afterthought in her life.
 
She graduated from high school and went away to college, a “Catholic” college in Chicago, and enrolled in a social work program.  She felt drawn to serve others, you see.  Her first years were like most college students', a search for acceptance and a place in the new cultural environment.  This young lady found her way into a “Women’s Studies” program.  How and why she was drawn there is not important.  What is important is not that she was drawn there, but what she encountered.
 
The faculty and staff of this program advocate in their personal lives a homosexual lifestyle.  (Please note, this is not a condemnation of Women’s Studies programs in general.)  Although to this point, our young subject’s life had been somewhat typical for an attractive young lady (numerous boyfriends, some more serious than others), her new friends and teachers began to show her how wrong her beliefs had been and how narrow her understanding of human sexuality.
 
Roughly a year after entering the program (over her parent’s concerns – they are paying the bills), she announced to them that she was going to enter into a homosexual relationship with an older woman with whom she had formed a relationship.  Her conservative parents are understandably devastated.  They have tried various inducements (they even tried to force her out of this situation by cutting off support) but she is convinced this is where she is accepted.
 
What is the moral here?  The parents are good people and tried to bring their daughter up in a loving home.  They are active in the parish (not activists but practicing).  They see the results of a weak faith being plunged among weeds that have now completely changed their daughter’s moral outlook.  Oh, and the priest who called from the university to address the parent’s concerns with this situation told them that the institution needed to be open to all lifestyles if it was to be an effective learning institution.
 
Seeds are hearty but delicate things.  They can grow in almost any medium.  But without having the lesson taught by St. Paul – that faith must be a priority – they can grow in unintended and undesirable ways, falling prey to those who would USE them, telling them that their lust is love.
 
Pax

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[1] General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous Notes no. 5: “Outside Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, and Easter Time, on Saturdays which have no commemoration having the rank of Obligatory Memorial or higher, a Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be celebrated. This is indicated in the calendar by ‘BVM.’ The readings and prayers may be selected from the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
[2] The Picture is "The Sower" by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, 1880.
[3] S.S Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the psalm and its response, which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.