News & Events
15th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Posted in News
12th July 2026
Gospel: Matthew 13, 1 – 23
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. ‘But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
“Listen then to what the parable of the Sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This happens very often when other occurrences are presented in such a way that they appear to be much more attractive because they promise more power or riches than a Kingdom whose arrival is shrouded in mystery. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” ____________________________________________________________
Homily
Agriculture fascinates me, and it fascinates me because it is to a large extent the most important human activity. Without agriculture and the food which it produces, we would perish. Because of its importance as a human activity, it also uses principles which tell us about life and the ways in which we can be successful both materially and spiritually. Jesus begins his teaching as a person of his time would. He speaks about scattering seed on the ground and describes what happens when seed is scattered without considering the type of soil where the seed is scattered. The farmer in the parable scatters seed on the soil, without preparation, expecting I suppose that he would lose some seed because of the various types of soil that the farmer would encounter. In today’s world however, and with all the agricultural machines and techniques now being used, the ground would be well prepared to ensure that the best results would be obtained. Today we would use manure and watering systems to create the best environment for the crops which we are seeking. The types of soil which farmers of Jesus’ time encountered still exist and as in the time of Jesus, if we do not take steps to prepare the soil so that we would get the best yields, then the results are not the best.
Learning from agriculture what then are the soils that we must be careful with and what are the remedies that we must utilize. The difference between the farmer whom Jesus describes as a good farmer, as compared with a farmer today is the generosity of the farmer of the parable. This farmer scatters seeds generously hoping that he will be lucky and that some seeds will fall on good soil. It is important to state here least we forget that the parable is inviting us to sow the seed of God’s word generously, but It is also important to state here that like soil, we also must prepare the soil in such a way that God’s word is received willingly, and because God’s word is never wasted, at times it is received only because the circumstances of life seem to force us to accept it. The prophet Isaiah reminds us: “As the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return without watering the earth… so shall my word be.” How often my dear brothers, we use words which remain in the hearts of those who hear them for many years. I remember once preaching a homily at Mass and speaking about hidden stocks that we have while others go hungry and a parishioner reminding me of that homily many times.
In this parable of the farmer sowing seed, the farmer sows seed generously everywhere but the earth is different in certain places. God, the Sower also does not differentiate. How easy it is my dear friends to differentiate when the delivering of God’s word is in play. How often those on the margins are forgotten and with silly excuses, for example “If I go into the ghetto, my car may be vandalized, I may get an infection, or someone may rob me.” How important for the Church has been the example of our two latest popes, Francis and Leo XIV who as priests and bishops dedicated their lives to working with the poorest of the poor very often in ghettos, preparing the people there to be ready to receive God’s word. Their call to go to the peripheries must be heeded because this call aligns with the call of the Gospel. Without preparation the seed may not germinate well. As Church, we must ask ourselves whether we are in fact doing the preparation. In this parable Jesus speaks primarily about seed falling on the road. Roads my dear friends are paths which have gotten hard because of the amount of people passing on them. Comparing some soil to roads is saying, God’s word cannot penetrate them because the heart has been hardened, often because of pride, cynicism and distractions of every sort and often enough because of the hardships that many people, especially the poor, must endure. They think that a successful life is marked by economic growth. The Rocky Ground is a heart without stamina, enthusiastic at first but unable to endure trials and opposition. People of the rocky ground would like others to think well of them, to consider them progressive and powerful. How Easy it is to see those as powerful and to be followed. The seed falling among thorns is the divided heart. The temptations of the world; power, prestige, pleasure and wealth do not allow spiritual growth. The Good Soil is a heart open to God’s grace, ready to listen, trust, and act because of love of God and of neighbour. The important thing to capture is that as disciples of Jesus, we must cultivate the good soil in ourselves and in those for whom we are responsible. This we do by the example of our lives shown through prayer and the sacraments and the following of Sacred Scripture especially Matthew 25, which tells us that Christ identifies himself with those on the margins. My dear brothers, Satan wants us to be frightened and insecure, so he often tells us that we are wasting our time, that we are bad people, that we will not be saved, so live and be merry for tomorrow we die. Do not listen to him. Let us work and help each other to be good soil, producing the fruit that God wants and which assures us of our place in heaven. My dear brothers and friends, parables were Jesus’ way of reminding us of truths which we easily forget. It is therefore always important to pose this question; What is the truth that Jesus is trying to tell us? I believe that in the parable for this Sunday we are being reminded of the creation story, of God giving us a world of total harmony because he loves us and which was lost because of the sin of Adam and Eve. Jesus, the Son was sent to restore what had been lost, through our following of the instructions of Jesus. If we think of the world as God’s garden, then Jesus is the manager and we are the workers whose task it is to restore the harmony that was lost by following what the manager asks of us. We are the workers whose task it is to prepare the ground so that the seeds may grow, and flourish. St. Paul tells us in the letter to the Romans that creation is itself groaning for redemption, for a return to the state of harmony. Our lives, too, are in a process of growth. The harvest may not be immediate, but God promises that if the soil is prepared, His Word will bear fruit—thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold. Even if you feel your heart has been rocky or thorny, God never stops sowing. His mercy is greater than our failures and let us remember God is not a stingy Sower—He is extravagant. He believes in the harvest that can come from our lives. With HIM and through HIM and in HIM, the world and all humanity can be saved. Let us not be found in default.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, You sent your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ as your living Word, telling us by word and example that you love us and want the best for us. You ASK US TO JOIN WITH HIM, your Word to recreate the harmony which is the sign of your Kingdom. You ask us to be the good soil ourselves and to help others become increasingly better soil in which the values of your Kingdom can grow. Father, do not allow us to forget those on the margins and the peripheries, so that all humanity may come to the happiness of your kingdom, we ask this through the intercession of Jesus, your Word and Mary, our Mother. Amen.
