Brothers and Sisters,

The Scripture readings of this fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary time call us to be faithful to our calling, to the commitments that we have made and to be steadfast on our journey. In our first reading, Isaiah speaks of God being faithful to His Word and His Word fulfilling its purpose. In the second reading, Paul speaks of the whole creation urgently longing and striving for fulfillment. The Gospel speaks of the farmer who keeps sowing knowing very well that all the seeds that he sows will not yield.

Today’s Gospel reading is one of the most inspiring and challenging parables of Jesus about a Sower going out to sow.  As he sowed, some seeds fell in places where they didn’t have a chance to sprout, others fell in places where they had no chance to grow and still others fell in places where they came up, grew and yielded a good harvest. All good farmers know that a good harvest does not depend on them, but preparing the ground and sowing good seeds must be done for harvest to happen. They have to be faithful to sowing and doing all the necessary preparations that go with sowing.   

The good farmer keeps preparing the ground and sowing good seeds, knowing very well that some of the seeds will not sprout, others will sprout but will not yield, but some will sprout and yield a good harvest! The Farmer must keep farming…The Sower must keep sowing…The Teacher must keep teaching…The Preacher must keep preaching…The parent must keep caring, loving, and sacrificing…not knowing what future holds! All the farming, sowing, teaching, preaching, caring, loving and sacrificing may not meet our expectations…may not be successful according to our standards or those of others. Real success lies in our fidelity to who we are. Saint Paul advises us, “Be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Take a moment and reflect on where you are and what you have been doing and how you have been doing what you are called to do…on your own faithfulness – your steadfastness! If you are parents, think about all the cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, sleepless nights, backaches, headaches and heart aches… How about all your struggles to get them to church, prepare them for the sacraments, teach them to pray, get them to do their homework, prepare them for their tests, get them to school on time, the PTA meetings, bake sales, garage sales and the hundreds of things you do for your children? How about all those meetings – School and church and neighborhood and the never-ending committee meetings and social gathering and so on? Do they make any difference? Think of the many things you do…the simplest and smallest details of your daily lives.

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