Commentary: 15 OT A

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, A

Isaiah 55: 10-11

Psalm 65

Romans 8: 18-23

Matthew 13: 1-23



The commonality of the readings today is on the comparison of the Word of God with seed. In the First Reading, the prophet Isaiah gives an analogy of the natural world (as the rain/snow) with the supernatural world (so My word). The Responsorial Psalm is one that uses a Gospel text (here, from a parallel version of this parable: Luke 8:8) for its refrain: “The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest,” which then brackets the text of Psalm 65 with its thanksgiving for the fruitful earth and puts it into the context of the spread of God’s Word. The Gospel is the parable of the sower. The shorter form of the parable, taken by itself, is a promise of God’s generosity on the spread of the Gospel of the kingdom—even to the point of absurdity (“yielding grain at a hundred- or sixty- or thirty-fold!”). The longer form, which gives the allegorical interpretation of the parable, illustrates the difficulties and dangers which the followers of Jesus can experience in their walk with Christ. Pope St. Gregory the Great, preaching on this pericope, says: “Be careful, then that the word you have received through your ears remains in your heart. Be careful that the seed does not fall along the path, for fear that the evil spirit may come and take it from your memory. Be careful that the seed is not received in stony ground, so that it produces a harvest of good works without the roots of perseverance. Many people are pleased with what they hear and resolve to undertake some good work, but as soon as difficulties begin to arise and hinder them, they leave the work unfinished…But the seed on the good soil, as the Lord said, brings forth fruit by patience—because, since they humbly endure misfortunes, they are welcomed when these are over into a place of rest in heaven. (Forty Gospel Homilies 1)



The in-course reading of Romans continues. Last week, Paul connected our renewal in Christ to baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus. This week, we hear him discuss the renewal of the whole creation in the paschal mystery. Creation fell in Adam’s fall (i.e., “became subject to futility”). Now creation itself longs “for the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Redemption is not just “me and Jesus”—it is about the restoration of all things to the relationship God intended them to have at creation, when God made it “and saw that it was very good.”



You can hear an anthem based on the Gospel Reading---"The Seed is God's Word", by the German Renaissance composer Melchior Franck---on the compact disc "Music for the Year of Matthew," sung by the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop, available from The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN (www.litpress.org).