16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 17, 2011: How to Receive the Word of God

Click Here to read the Mass Readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A):

"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. " (Mt 13:23)

I remember it like yesterday.  We were in the family car pulling out of the church parking lot after Sunday Mass and my father asked the unimaginable: "So, can you guys tell me what the Gospel reading was for today?"  We were like a deer caught in the headlights: stunned and helpless.  There were no excuses, and there was no way out.  Like last Sunday's Gospel parable of the sower, we were the "path" on which the seed had been scattered, only to be eaten up moments later by the birds.  And while there was no recollection of what Gospel we had actually listened to only 45 minutes earlier, there was no doubt this moment would be seared into my memory forever. 

That was the story I was going to share last week, but unfortunately I was too busy to write a reflection on how to listen to the Word of God.  Luckily, not all is lost.  This week's principal Gospel parable of the "weeds and wheat" continues the theme begun last Sunday with the parable of the sower.  Last week's parable of the sower was meant to teach us the fundamental disposition of our heart needed to receive the "seed" - i.e. the Word of God.  How we listen to the Word of God is of the utmost importance here.  It's worth asking the question, "how and why do I listen to the Word of God?"  Do I listen indifferently to the Gospel while it's proclaimed at Mass, or do I listen so as to absorb that Word and allow it to slowly change my way of thinking and acting?  One way to really get a lot out of the Sunday readings is to read and reflect on them before going to Mass - for example, on Friday evening.  Find out ahead of time which readings will be read at Mass - ibreviary.com has an application for smart phones that gives you all the Mass readings and other prayers to help you prepare (it's available in English and Italian).  Then calm down and open your heart to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to bless and guide your reflection.  Then simply read the readings, sit in silence for about 5 minutes and allow the Lord to speak to your heart.  Instead of listening to the radio on the way home from work on Friday you could look up the readings before getting in the car and then pray over them as you drive home.  Or you could do this with your spouse and share your reflections - it's a great means to help couples communicate and share from the heart the deeper things of life which are not normally shared.  This is a great blessing for marriages and families.

This Sunday's Gospel of the weeds and wheat focuses attention on the seed that has already been sown in good soil - i.e. a heart and mind disposed to welcome the Word of God.  This parable gives us a sober look at the perpetual situation of our life in this world: Good and evil grow alongside one another.  As disciples (the wheat) we find ourselves temporarily surrounded by moral evil in this world (the weeds) which is the fruit of the devil's work.  We must not allow ourselves to become despondent by the presence of evil, nor be conquered by evil, but rather seek to "conquer evil with good" (Romans 12:21).  We also learn to be patient with the weeds around us because we see how patient God is with the weeds within us.  As we know, His patience is directed toward our repentance and salvation (2 Peter 3:15).  So let us repent of the hardness of our hearts, and ask pardon for the times we have lost patience with God and with His divine plan.  May we renew our confidence and trust in the Lord's will and receive with love and gratitude both the Word proclaimed to us at Mass, and the perfect fruit of "the wheat" - the Eucharist.  God bless you!

(Photo of the "Woodhouse Sower" courtesy of Dcn. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)