The 15th Sunday in Ordinary : THE WORD OF GOD. During the past week I was fortunate to have an encounter with one of our local priests concerning his vocation to the priesthood. He told me that the happiest day of his life was the day he was ordained a priest. “Father, what feelings ran through your mind when you were being ordained?” I asked. “My ordination to the priesthood after almost 10 years in the seminary proved to me one thing: THAT GOD DOES NOT LIE,” replied the priest. THAT GOD DOES NOT LIE is also the same message that the prophet Isaiah proclaims in the first reading (Is 55:10-11). The context of this passage is during the Babylonian captivity where Israelites had been taken for exile. As I have always said this was the most painful and the most humiliating period of Israelites history. They felt as if the Lord who had courageously led them out of Egypt and formed them into a nation had abandoned them and that is why they were in exile for so many years. However, the Lord assured them of his presence by sending them his WORD through his prophets while they were in exile. Among the prophets who prophesied in this Period is Prophet Ezekiel and Deutero-Isaiah whose passage we read in today’s liturgy. The prophet uses the analogy that just as the the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall the WORD of God which goes from his mouth not return to empty, but it shall accomplish the purpose for which it is sent. One of the Kenyan Musicians, Marian Shako from the coast captured this prophesy beautifully in her hymn, “Kama mvua ishukavyo toka mbinguni kwenye ardhi na neno lake kwa kinywa changu…” In short, that the WORD of the Lord does not go in vain. It has to make an effect…it has to produce fruits and make an impact. I don’t know if it is the same for you. Does God’s WORD found in the scriptures or proclaimed by her pastors produce an effect in your life? Do you leave the church’s building every Sunday after hearing the sermon a better person than you came? After reading the Bible do you feel the urge to lead your life differently? Does the WORD of God really make an effect in your life? But why is it there are so many discrepancies regarding the WORD? How can we explain it that the WORD of the Lord is proclaimed to so many yet we see no effects? How can we explain the fact that there are so many churches in Kenya…so many people carrying bibles on a Sunday…so many people going for masses and services…so many T.V stations having gospel services yet we have so many evils today? Does it mean that the WORD of God is not taking effect in our lives? Has the WORD of God lost its power? The answer to these questions is found in today’s Gospel Pericope (Mt 13:1-23) which is on the parable of the Sower. This parable highlights several things regarding the WORD of God. First is that it is proclaimed to everybody, and that explains why we have the seeds falling in different conditions. Secondly, is that the same WORD is received differently by different people. Jesus mentions four different types of receivers. The first is represented by the seed that fell on the path and immediately eaten away by the birds. This represents the sad state of some of us who are not ready to give the WORD of God a chance because of the deception by the Devil. The seed that feel on the Rocky grounds..grew quickly but did not take root thus withered by the sun represent those of us who abandon God’s WORD, Christianity, or our vocations once problems, tribulations and persecution engulf us. Such are the type who are Christians because they feel its fashionable to do so…or they view it as a bed of roses. Such are the people who will easily give up their Christianity once they go into regions where the number of Christians is minimal or areas where Christians are being persecuted. The seed that grew among thorns which chocked the Plants represents those of us who want to mix God’s WORD with worldly pleasures…they want to be Christians and worldly at the same time. The seed that fell on the good soil and yielded crops represents those of us who have allowed the WORD of God to take root in their lives. They live in such a way that looking at their lives one will truly say that such people have read the life of Jesus. Moreover, if it ever happens that the scriptures in the whole world are destroyed…we are able to construct it again from their lives. The perfect example of such a person is Jesus whom we also refer to as Incarnate WORD because in him, the WORD took flesh. They consider all the sufferings, pleasures and glories of this world not worthy compared to the glory that is to be revealed as the Second reading (Rom 8: 18-23) urges us. Friends, while looking at the parable of the Sower it is very easy for us to want to point fingers and relate certain types of soils to certain people we have met. However, I think that in most of us…we will find all these type of soils…there are times we are like seed that fell on the path and do not want to give the WORD of God a chance. Other times we are like that rocky ground when we abandon God’s WORD due to different troubles or persecutions we meet in our everyday life..Other times we behave like that seed planted among the thorns unable to grow because of our immersion into the pleasures, technologies of this world. Some other times we behave like that good soil…and bear fruit…sometime as little as 30 or 60 and other times as much as 100. May the Blessed Virgin Mary in whose womb the WORD took flesh pray and journey with us so that the WORD may also take flesh in our lives. Have a fruitful week friends. Today I officially conclude my pastoral experience in Elburgon parish…it has been a fruitful experience and an opportunity I will always thank God for.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 04:09:45 +0000
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