Jul 26 2024

First reading Jeremiah 3:14-17

Come back, my disloyal children

Come back, disloyal children – it is the Lord who speaks – for I alone am your Master. I will take one from a town, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds after my own heart, and these shall feed you on knowledge and discretion. And when you have increased and become many in the land, then – it is the Lord who speaks – no one will ever say again: Where is the ark of the covenant of the Lord? There will be no thought of it, no memory of it, no regret for it, no making of another. When that time comes, Jerusalem shall be called: The Throne of the Lord; all the nations will gather there in the name of the Lord and will no longer follow the dictates of their own stubborn hearts.

Responsorial Psalm Jeremiah 31:10-13

The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Gospel Matthew 13:18-23

The man who hears the word and understands it yields a rich harvest

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’

_____________________________________________

The four soils

In today’s gospel, Jesus focuses on how we receive the seed, i.e. the word of God. The seed that falls on the hard path represents someone who hears God’s word but remains indifferent to what God says. The seed that falls on rocky soil is the one who receives the good news but does not persevere in living it out daily. Thus, the word loses its power when facing challenges and difficulties. The seed that penetrates the thorny soil is the person who hears the message, but the “worry of the world and the lure of riches choke the word”. The worry of having a sure and secure life occupies the heart of the person that God has no space to enter and be at the centre of his/her life. Finally, the seed that falls on good soil represents the person who listens attentively to the word of God and does God’s will, thus yielding good fruit.

The good news is that Jesus never gives up on us and commits Himself to plough our hearts so that we can be open to receive and retain God’s word.

Reflective questions:
Which soil do I identify myself? Why?

Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year B” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.