Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Optional Memorial for Saint Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church)
Proper readings for the Memorial of Saint Robert Bellarmine
Additional information about St. Robert Bellarmine
 
Or
 
(Optional Memorial for Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor of the Church)
Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Hildegard of Bingen
Additional information about St. Hildegard of Bingen
 
Or
 
(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. Suggested for this date: #20. Holy Mary, the New Eve.

“Parable of the Sower”
by Domenico Fetti c. 1619

 
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 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-49
 
Brothers and sisters:
Someone may say, “How are the dead raised?
With what kind of body will they come back?”
 
You fool!
What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.
And what you sow is not the body that is to be
but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.
 
So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.
It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.
It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.
 
So, too, it is written,
“The first man, Adam, became a living being,”
the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
But the spiritual was not first;
rather the natural and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, earthly;
the second man, from heaven.
As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.
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Commentary on 1 Cor 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 is of 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 firstborn of the dead in Christ, who had earthly form, and became the “New Adam” in the resurrection.
 
St. Paul is eloquent in describing the difference between the earthly form and the resurrected body. Where the earthly form may be flawed, the spiritual body in the resurrection will be perfect. He envisions a resurrected body with the qualities of glory, power, and spirituality, a body which is a creation in God’s heavenly image. “The contrast between Adam and Christ shows that by nature we get a body from Adam that is physical, earthly, and mortal; and by grace we expect a body from Christ that is spiritual, heavenly, and immortal (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).  Paul draws on Genesis 2:7 to hint that Adam’s creation bears a certain likeness to Christ’s Resurrection.  Just as Adam’s body was raised from the earth by the breath of natural life, so Christ’s body was raised from the earth by the Spirit of supernatural life.  It is this life-giving Spirit, now channeled to the world through the sacrament of Christ’s risen humanity, that will raise our bodies also (Romans 8:11).” [5]
 
CCC: 1 Cor 15:35-50 646; 1 Cor 15:35-37 999; 1 Cor 15:42-44 1683; 1 Cor 15:42 999, 1017; 1 Cor 15:44-45 364; 1 Cor 15:44 999, 1017; 1 Cor 15:45 411, 504; 1 Cor 15:47 504
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 56:10c-12, 13-14
 
R. (14) I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
 
Now I know that God is with me.
In God, in whose promise I glory,
in God I trust without fear;
what can flesh do against me?
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
 
I am bound, O God, by vows to you;
your thank offerings I will fulfill.
For you have rescued me from death,
my feet, too, from stumbling;
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
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Commentary on Ps 56:10c-12, 13-14
 
Psalm 56 is an individual lament. The psalmist expresses unbounded faith in God who will protect and lift up his faithful children. The singer’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 resurrection as the faithful walk with God.
 
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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.
 
 In the parable of the “Sower.” Jesus follows the unvarnished parable with a deeper explanation to the disciples. In St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 13:1-23*), when questioned on his purpose in using parables, the author tells us Jesus' response is: “'they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand,” Using this literary form, the Lord hopes to engage the listeners so they will be enlightened. (He paraphrases Isaiah 6:9-10, a warning to the prophet he sends, that those to whom he speaks will not understand). This citation implies that, as in St. Mark’s treatment of this parable (Mark 4:1-23), the difficulty of the metaphor is almost a punishment for the people’s earlier rejection of Jesus' clearer statements.
 
“The point of the parable is that, in spite of some failure because of opposition and indifference, the message of Jesus about the coming of the kingdom will have enormous success.” [6]
 
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:
 
From time to time, even the most secular person pauses to wonder: “What will my legacy be when I am gone? Who will remember me, and what will they remember?” As we consider the parable of the sower, we can speculate that these questions may have been considered by Jesus as well. Being truly man, that is, not thinking about his situation as if he were God, eternal and omnipresent, he would feel a sense of frustration. He brought the words of life to God’s adopted children, each of whom is precious to his loving Father. Yet, he could see with his own eyes that only a tiny fraction were understanding what he was saying, and accepting the great gift that was being offered.
 
Jesus explains this frustration to his disciples after he tells the parable to his larger entourage. What he speaks of, even to this small group, is his legacy and posterity. Each of the twelve will play some part in what he leaves behind. Even Judas, who betrays him, has an important role to play. These Apostles sowed the early seeds of faith, seeds that at, various times and circumstances, have been choked by weeds of dissension, parched by scandal, and fallen onto the rocks of persecution. Still the grain blooms, and new generations of seed are grown, themselves to fall to the earth.
 
Through this process, we were brought into the faith, frequently by our parents but possibly by others. Each generation lays the groundwork for the one that follows. We must, when reading the parable of the sower, look at ourselves and ask: what will we provide for those who follow us, the new seeds? Will we advance Christ’s cause through our actions, demonstrating the kind of fruit we are, or will we rot on the vine or lay on fallow ground? At various times in our lives most of us could see ourselves failing, and at others exceeding beyond all hope.
 
Today, we again take stock of our location in God’s Garden, and ask if we are in fertile soil, or if we need to dig deeper. Always the answer will be, dig deeper, because our Lord, who first fell to the ground dying and rising to new life, showed us what wholesome grain must be. So today we dig deeper, praying that the fruit we bear will give rise to a glorious future for those who follow, and a birth to new life for us, on the last day.
 
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 used today is “Parable of the Sower” by Domenico Fetti c. 1619.
[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.
[5] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p. 308.
[6] NAB footnote on Matthew 13:3