Daily Gospel Reflection – Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Bishop Robert Barron
July 27, 2023
Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Mt 13:18-23
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Hear the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
*United States Conference of Catholic
Bishop Robert Barron
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus explains the parable of the sower. This parable is reminiscent of another well-known story of Jesus: that of the shepherd and the lost sheep.
"What man among you," asks Jesus, "having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?" Can we imagine the shepherds in Jesus’ audience shaking their heads? No shepherd would be so foolish! Which is just the point: God’s love is so extravagant that it breaks all of our categories of what is reasonable.
One of our favorite pastimes is setting limits to the love of God. We say that God loves those who love him, or that God loves those who are in the right church or have the right doctrines. But God does not sow only on the receptive soil; he sows everywhere, even in those places that are least receptive.
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