So let's talk about today's readings 9/19/09

[cheeto1]

September 19, 2009

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Reading 1
1 Tm 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.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 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.

Gospel
Lk 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.”

 

[cheeto1]

“Beloved:
I charge you before God…
to keep the commandment without stain or reproach
until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ”
– Oh, just to be perfect forever? is that all? Yes sir!

“serve the LORD with gladness”
– this psalm makes me happy. It’s worthy of memorization…

I noticed somethings different in the parable of the sower today.
Each of the places where it falls is explained. But one thing on the path
isn’t explained. That the seed was trampled. That the birds flew away with
it was explained by the devil stealing it away. But what is happening to the
seed that is trampled?

I also noticed that the seed that fell on rocky ground grew anyway, but died for
lack of moisture. It is explained that these fell away through temptations and
persecutions. I associate the lack of moisture with lack of prayer.

In the seed that fell in the thorns, and they both grew together. That seed might
have still had fruit, but it just wasn’t mature fruit. Wonder what the immature
fruit looks like, compared to the mature?

I wonder what kind of soil I am? Does anyone know what kind of soil they are?
Do you have the fruits of the Spirit? Are they a hundred-fold?

So what struck you about today’s readings? :bible1::twocents:

 

[Crumpy]

“Beloved:
I charge you before God…
to keep the commandment without stain or reproach
until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ”
– Oh, just to be perfect forever? is that all? Yes sir!:

What is “the commandment”? Probably means the entire gospel. For someone like St. Paul who elsewhere says that sin clings to him, you’re right, this is a solemn statement “before God.” It is no more challenging than what Jesus says to the woman caught in adultery, when He tells her, “go and sin no more.”

But what does someone steeped in the faith, who knows the horror of sin, say to anybody? “go have a good time”? “keep it down to a roar”? To be united with Christ means a great deal. First, it describes our destiny in eternity. Second, it describes the transformation of our life, after we have died with Christ in Baptism.

We must choose between good and evil. Paul is saying, choose the good.

"
“serve the LORD with gladness”
– this psalm makes me happy. It’s worthy of memorization…

I noticed somethings different in the parable of the sower today.
Each of the places where it falls is explained. But one thing on the path
isn’t explained. That the seed was trampled. That the birds flew away with
it was explained by the devil stealing it away. But what is happening to the
seed that is trampled?

I also noticed that the seed that fell on rocky ground grew anyway, but died for
lack of moisture. It is explained that these fell away through temptations and
persecutions. I associate the lack of moisture with lack of prayer.

:bible1::twocents:

We need to know a bit more about farming in the Holy Land. Doesn’t it strike you as odd that the farmer is sowing the seeds rather liberally to begin with.

Apparently the soil layer is actually quite variable in depth, over a hard rocky formation; and the farmer just never knows where the seed is going to prosper. This is like saying that on Sunday morning in church, we can’t predict how the preaching is going to affect everybody there. That sermon might be just the inspiration that somebody needed, to change their life.

Paul’s letter is addressed to a bishop, Timothy, a cradle Catholic, it seems. It is meant to build him up for the task of his office, to build up other listeners to embrace their faith. There’s just no “second class” Catholicism, I guess.

 

[cheeto1]

Apparently the soil layer is actually quite variable in depth, over a hard rocky formation; and the farmer just never knows where the seed is going to prosper. This is like saying that on Sunday morning in church, we can’t predict how the preaching is going to affect everybody there. That sermon might be just the inspiration that somebody needed, to change their life.

I like this.

“keep it down to a roar” - ! that’s funny…

So one way to be fertile soil is pay attention at mass and realize that this is directed
to your own personal circumstances…