"My Word Shall Not Return to Me Void"
Sunday, July 13, 2008

Readings for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1: Is. 55:10–11

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 65:10, 11, 12–13, 14

Reading 2: Rom. 8:18–23

Gospel: Mt. 13:1–23 or 13:1–9

Link to Readings

By Father Robert Pecotte

How interesting God is! He uses metaphors to describe His actions, and at the same time He transforms the metaphor into reality. What am I talking about? Look at our first reading from Isaiah:

Just as from the heavens the rain and the snow come down and do not return there until till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it. (55:10–11)

The Word that God speaks is His eternal Word. It is without beginning or end. This Word is the eternal Son uttered by the eternal Father. The Father speaks the Son who is sent forth to do the Father’s will. The Word is sent forth (that is, spoken) via the breath of God (the word for “breath” and “spirit” in Hebrew is the same: ruah). What is the Father’s will for His Word, according to Isaiah? To make the earth fertile and fruitful by providing seed for the sower and bread for the ones who eat.

John 1:1 proclaims: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father.” So the Word, which is the eternal Son of the eternal Father, is sent forth in the flesh; He is incarnate. He is both the Son of God (Mt. 16:13) and the Son of man (Mt. 16:16)—that is, He has two natures: Human and Divine.

Isaiah in the Gospel

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks the parable of the sower to the people gathered on the shore. Jesus Himself is the sower of the seed. Jesus, the Eternal Word incarnate, provides the seed and sows it into the hearts of the hearers in order to provide a harvest of thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold. The harvest depends on the fertility of the soil/soul it gets planted in. But the Word Himself will make the soil fertile; it just depends on how much seed falls on the soil and how receptive the soil is to the Word. Remember what we hear in Isaiah: The Word is both the rain and the seed . . . God provides everything His children need.

If the soil is a hardened path (from the frequent trod of the devil) then the seed never enters the soil. If the soil is filled with rocks that make it shallow, then as soon as the sun rises (the heat of God’s love experienced as a trying fire) the growing seed burns up. If the soil is overgrown with the weeds of earthly desire, the sprouting seed is choked to death.

However, if the seed lands on fertile soil—that is, the soil of a receptive heart—then it will eventually provide a harvest. Christ Himself is the water; He is the Seed; He is the sower; and He is the Reaper.

Living Bread for the Hungry

So far we have concentrated on the first part of the Isaiahan prophecy. Let us look at the second. “And bread for the one who eats.” The Word has provided richly for the sower. Now the Word shall also supply bread for those who hunger for the Word of God.

In John 6:51, Jesus says “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Father provides Jesus with His Divine Word for the sowing, which in turn bears fruit unto eternal life for those who have ears to hear. They are fed with the Living Bread come down from heaven, who is the Incarnate Word of God substantially present in the Eucharist.

When the Word of God is proclaimed, the seed is sown in the hearts of the faithful, which in turn fills them with a hunger that only the bread come down from heaven can satisfy. Where the Living Bread come down from heaven is present, then so to is the kingdom of heaven. In every Holy Mass that the Church celebrates, the Parable of the Sower is acted out and the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled.

Hearing and Seeing

“Whoever has ears ought to hear!” (Mt. 13:9) “The stalk of grain that forms no ear can yield no flour; even if it could, strangers would swallow it” (Hos. 8:7). Not all have ears, for their rebellion has deafened them to the One whom they have rebelled against. Even those who have ears are may loose their portion of the Word for the hardness of their heart; the lust of the flesh and the fear of suffering. They do not hunger for that which they eat and so are not satisfied. They go forth more empty than they came and so seek to comfort the flesh, which in turn excites the desires of the flesh all the more.

Hear the word of the Lord all you peoples of the Earth! “They look but do not see, they hear but do not understand” (Mt. 13:13). How many see the Body of Christ in the elevated host? How many hear the Sacred Scriptures proclaimed in every Liturgy of the Word?

The greatest warning given in the parable is the truth: The people’s hearts are filled with the world so they do not see with their eyes nor hear with their ears; for they do not wish to be converted and so shall not be healed (Mt. 13:14–15; quoting Is. 6:9–10).

Blessed are the ears that hear and the eyes that see, for the Lord God has prepared them from the foundation of the world to provide for the harvest.

O Lord, let it be a hundred fold. . . . Amen.

Father Robert Pecotte is a priest of the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota.

Back to Homily Archive

Help us continue to provide great homilies. Click here to donate today.