7/20/2016 – Wednesday of the 16th week of Ordinary Time – Matthew 13:1-9

     We have been hearing a lot of parables in our daily mass readings these past few weeks.  Parables and stories capture our imagination, they help us better understand God and what the Kingdom of God is all about.  Even though there are not many people in our society today who are involved in agriculture and farming as full-time occupations, many of us have gardens, so the parable of the sower still speaks to us today.  We can sow seeds in a lot of ways in life. Some of those seeds will fall on ground where they cannot take root, but some of the seeds will bear fruit for God’s kingdom.  We won’t know if we don’t try.  We won’t know if we don’t sow seeds.  If we just keep those seeds on a shelf, afraid to plant them for fear of failure, then none of them will take root.  We need to take risks on our journey of faith.  We need to go where God calls us, even if it seems scary.

     Today is the anniversary of the death of Pope Leo XIII, who died on July 20, 1903.  Leo was pope for approximately 25 years at the end of the 19^th century and at the dawning of the 20^th century.  He is most remembered in our Church for writing the encyclical Rerum Novarum, which is considered the first major encyclical devoted to Catholic social teaching in the modern era. As we talk about sowing seeds and taking risks, we definitely see that in this encyclical.  Rerum Novarum came out at a time when workers were being exploited all over the world, where children were forced to work in deplorable conditions, and where the poor were not afforded many opportunities to live in dignity and justice.  Rerum Novarum is still considered a ground-breaking work today in the way that it celebrates God’s love and mercy, calling us to implement justice and mercy in our relationship with our brothers and sisters in society, especially the least of our brothers and sisters.  We have a lot of social programs in our society today and unions that fight for the rights of workers, but many wonder if our modern social programs have locked the poor into a system that lacks the justice and dignity of God and enslaves them in another way. 

     May we hear the call to God’s justice and mercy. May we hear the call to sow seeds on our path in life.  May we take risks in our journey of faith.