CONGREGATIO DIVINUM CARITAS

My dear people...

Today we observe the Sixtieth day before Easter known as "Sexagesima".  You may remember from my homily last Sunday, that these three Sundays; Septuagesima (70), Sexagesima (60), Quinquagesima (50) relate to a time before forty (40) days were set by Popes St Gregory and Gelasius as the uniform period of Lenten observance.

[It also interesting to note that Fr Hunwicke (Blog: Liturgical Notes) reminds us that these Sundays were also set by Pope St Gregory to take place at the three great basilicas outside the city of Rome during the Lombard campaigns.  You may notice (if you have one) in the handheld Missals underneath the title for these Sundays the inscription Station at: St Laurence/St Paul/St Peter which three great churches stood almost as "spiritual sentinels" outside the walls of the Roman city.  Remember that in these times, the congregations of the Roman churches would process from their "parish" church to the church where Mass would be offered by the Pope, so on these Sundays the Faithful had to walk outsisde of the then city to attend Mass.]

The Gospel today is that of the parable of "The Seed and the Sower" perhaps one of the most popular and remembered of Our Lord's parables:

(Luke VIII. 4-15.) At that time, when very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of the cities unto him, he spoke by a similitude: The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns; and the thorns growing up with it, choked it. And other some fell upon good ground; and being sprung up, yielded fruit a hundredfold. Saying these things, he cried out: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him what this parable might be. To whom he said: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables; that seeing, they may not see, and hearing, they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the way-side are they that hear: then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no roots, for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation they fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares arid riche, and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground are they who, in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.

Notice that Our Lord gives a full explanation of the parable to His disciples.  Which means there is little that I feel able to add!  Except to say that the key here is both the "seed" which is the Word of God but also understanding our response, our disposition to it.

The Word of God is more than just Scripture.   Remember the prologue to St John's Gospel that we hear at the end of Mass?  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God" and you may remember my homily in Advent for the first of the Great O Antiphons "O Wisdom that comes forth from the mouth of the Most High" about Christ being the "Word", the "logos", the "ruach", the action of the mind and will of God.  Remember in Genesis that it is this word "ruach" which is used to describe the creative aspect of God's speaking life into His creation.  As Catholic Christians, we understand the Word of God to be more than just a reference to Scripture, to the Bible, but to mean Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Therefore for us, "Word of God" means Jesus Himself and it means the force of these words of His in today's Gospel have particular significance "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" because it is the Word Himself that is speaking, Christ as the "logos" as the "ruach".  To those immediately around Jesus hearing this parable it was a warning... "Listen to the Word amongst you" is effectively what He is saying.  These words still have resonance for us as Catholic Christians centuries later for in the Mass when we listen to the Scriptures (the written Word of God) we hear Christ, the Word of God, Himself speaking to us.  More than that, we later receive the Word of God, Jesus, in the Blessed Sacrament.  We take the Word of God into ourselves, into our bodies under the guise of bread and wine.  We eat the "seed" that then germinates within us.  In these two ways we receive the Word of God, hearing the Scriptures and receiving the Blessed Sacrament.

But what matters also is not just our reception of the Word but our disposition, our response to it/Him.  It is not enough just to hear the Word but one must react to it.  There is no point when reading Scripture to just simply open the Bible and start reading, taking in only the printed word.  Rather when approaching the Scriptures we should pray with them. 

"Lectio Divina" is the practice of praying and meditating with the Scriptures.  Before reading a passage of text, one prays for guidance and inspiration, that the words will become the living Word to the reader, that they will come alive with meaning and significance, that their interpretation will come to us afresh, that we will gain insight both spiritual and mental.  This is practised by Religious and Clergy on a daily basis in the Prayer of the Church also known as the "Liturgy of the Hours" in the Office called the "Office of Readings" where Scripture and the writings of the Fathers and Saints of the Church are read surrounded by Psalms and prayer.  The purpose is always to increase faith, to increase understanding, it is both prayer and study.  I would commend "Lectio Divina" to anybody and would be happy to discuss it with anyone who would like to practise it.

The point of the parable about our disposition is that, like the seed that fell in good soil, so we should prepare ourselves, our hearts, our souls, to be like that fertile soil where the seed will germinate, take root and grow.  So we too should receive the Word and allow it/Him to germinate and grow within us.

You may remember from last Sunday the parable of the vineyard?  We should be tending to our souls like the vineyard labourers to the vine, we should be pruning, guiding vines, taking off dead branches etc and again, in like manner we should be tending our spiritual selves in the same way as soil, removing stones, removing weeds and briars, that we may be fertile ground for the Word to dwell.  We need to rid ourselves from those obstacles that prevent the Word from growing within us; sin, hardness of heart, stubborness, selfish desires, ignorance etc.  We should instead be removing these things from ourselves, from our lives, to enable us to grow spiritually in sanctity, in purity, in wisdom and our understanding of God and in our love for God.

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory" the Last Gospel reminds us that Christ, the Word of God, came and lived and breathed and spoke among us and He still does in the Mass, in the Liturgy of the Word, in the Scripture and also in the Sacrament.  He still abides with us in His Body both Sacrament and corporately in The Church, in each member of His Body, in each of us.  Allow yourself to be open and receptive to Him, take Him into your heart, reach out and ask Him to come into your life, study Him, study the Scripture, receive Him into your heart and mind and bodily in the Sacrament of His Love for YOU; that you may grow and develop in His Word and Love and so prepare yourself for His Kingdom when He comes again.

As always with my love and prayers for you all

Fr Jerome OSJV

Parish Priest.