It is amazing to think about how rapidly the population of the world has grown. In 1804, the population of the world reached 1 billion people for the first time in history. As of April of this year, the population is estimated at 7.5 billion people. I cannot even comprehend that number. Both China and India each have more than a billion people. You can imagine, one issue that so many countries have faced in light of this huge growth of population is: How do we feed so many people? In the 1960s, many agronomists knew this challenge was coming. One agronomist from the United States went to India with a wheat seed that he developed. He convinced the Indian authorities to give this new seed a try. They planted some of this new strain of wheat in the Punjab region of India where results were amazing. Later, they introduced a new variety of rice. These new seeds enabled India and other Asian countries to avert famine. Today, with its huge population, India actually produces a food surplus and has become a major rice exporter, shipping nearly 4.5 million tons in 2006. Here we see the power of a seed, how it can change the world. Jesus, in today’s Gospel tells us about power of the word of God using
Starting this week, for three weeks in a row we will hear Jesus speak in parables from Matthew’s Gospel. He used parables to help the people better understand what the Kingdom of God was really about. As we hear about the sower who sows some seed that dies, while other seeds take root and produce, we're to think about God’s word taking root in our own lives and the way we sow the seeds of his kingdom. All of us, every single man, woman and child sitting here at mass today, are to be like a good farmer. Like a farmer who faces floods, or drought, or other disasters of all kinds, we are called to engage our lives in our lives of discipleship and the work of Evangelization to plant seeds of hope and faith, to sow the best seeds that we have. Just as the farmer uses the sun and the winds and the rain to produce a good harvest, we are to use the reality of God’s creation around us to sow and to plant. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, working through the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives, provides the grace to nourish and sustain our faith. Only if we whole-heartedly apply ourselves to this life of faith, only if we use the resources around us, only if we truly give it our best shot, will we be able to truly grow as disciples and evangelize others.
In the parish council we are reading a book by Sherry Waddell entitled Forming Intentional Disciples. In the book she states that a big mistake we make in our parishes is that we assume that all those who have been baptized and grow up Catholic are truly evangelized themselves. She asserts that many of those in our pews have not been evangelized themselves. To put it another way, how many professed Christians are not really living productive spiritual lives? Yet, our reality and the challenges we have in our life of disciples are not supposed to depress us or cause us to be cynical. We are to take heart, to face our challenges with enthusiasm and hope, to be on fire for the Lord.
Yes, indeed, Jesus’ message was rejected in his hometown of Nazareth. He was rejected by so many of the Jews. He received nothing but opposition and hostility from the scribes, Pharisees, and chief priest - the Jewish authorities. Most times, the synagogues refused Jesus entrance to preach, causing him to go out to preach to the people on the hillsides and the shore. Jesus’ parable today about the seeds that were sown in different types of soil attempted to encourage the apostles and to give them hope. Jesus’ parable assure them that his Good News would produce the intended affect in spite of these challenges and opposition and controversy. In Matthew’s day, at the time he was writing his Gospel, his Jewish-Christian community also experienced a lot of adversity, just as we modern disciples can get frustrated by all the challenges we face as well.
Where do I find hope as a priest in my darkest hour, in my most difficult times? I was recently reading Canon law as to the obligations I have as pastor, and one of those obligations reads: “The pastor is to see to it that the Most Holy Eucharist is the center of the parish assembly of the faithful.” (528.2). It is the Eucharist that sustains me as a priest, that gives me energy, encouragement, and hope. And it is my hope as pastor, before anything else, to foster that love and desire to receive the Eucharist in the lives of the faithful, and of you my parishioners. The Catechism of the Catholic Church goes on to say: “‘The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows.’ It is therefore the privileged place for catechizing the People of God.” (CCC 1074). Jesus enters our lives in the Eucharist and in the Mass in a special. The Church instructs us in the Mass in a unique way that is found in no other activity. If I did not have the love I have for the Eucharist and the Mass, I would not have made it here in Tupelo as your pastor. And that is the truth. So, that begs the question: What soil are we? Are we letting God take root in our lives? Are we letting the Eucharist and the Mass enter our lives and bear fruit in the world through our words and our actions? Good questions for us to contemplate in our lives of faith in the light of today's Gospel message.
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