September 22, 2012

Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 448

First Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 

1 Cor 15:35-37, 42-49

Brothers and sisters:
Someone may say, "How are the dead raised?

Some disbelievers ask, "how can the dead come back to life?"

With what kind of body will they come back?"

"Their bodies will be decayed and eaten by worms.  How can they be revived?"
This takes me back to Ezekiel and that famous question regarding, "Dem bones".

Ezekiel 37:1-3

King James Version (KJV)

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

² And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
³ And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.

You fool!

This is not the first time that Scripture calls unbelievers fools:

Psalm 14:1
King James Version (KJV)
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.

This lesson is also taught by Christ:

John 12:24
King James Version (KJV)
²⁴ Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 

And what you sow is not the body that is to be
but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.
So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.

The body which we have now, dies and corrupts.  But the body which God resurrects rises, incorruptible.

It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.

It dies and is buried, a mere shell.  But it is raised with glory.

It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.

It dies because it is weak.  But it is raised with power.

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

It dies a natural body.  It is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

The spirit inhabits the body, therefore there is a natural body which is quickened by a spiritual body.

So, too, it is written,
"The first man, Adam, became a living being,"
the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

Adam was a natural man.  Jesus a spiritual man.

But the spiritual was not first;
rather the natural and then the spiritual.

The natural came first in the order of time.  

The first man was from the earth, earthly;
the second man, from heaven.

The first man was made from the ground.  Jesus came down from heaven.

As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.

Those who are not baptized and born again in the spiritual life remain earthly, as their father Adam.

Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Just as we bear the image of Adam, our earthly father, in the Resurrection, we will also bear the image of our Heavenly Father.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 56:10c-12, 13-14 

Response. (14) I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

Now I know that God is with me.
In God, in whose promise I glory,
in God I trust without fear;
what can flesh do against me? 

R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living. 

I am bound, O God, by vows to you;
your thank offerings I will fulfill.
For you have rescued me from death,
my feet, too, from stumbling;
that I may walk before God in the light of the living. 

R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

 The Presence of God devotion.  Read more.  They say an honest man is one who is honest when no one is looking.  That is true, humanly speaking.  But it is impossible to do anything without God seeing what you do.  God is everywhere:

Psalm 139:7-10
King James Version (KJV)
⁷ Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?  ⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.  ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;  ¹⁰ Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 

Lk 8:4-15

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.

People were coming to Jesus from many towns.  When a large crowd had gathered, He spoke to them a parable.  It is the Parable of the Sower.

"A sower went out to sow his seed.

A farmer scatters seed.

And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.

Some seeds fall on a walkway and are stepped upon and eaten by birds.

Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.

Some seed feel upon rocks and withered.

Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.

Some seed fell amongst the weeds and was overrun.

And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold."

But the rest of the seed fell upon good soil and grew and produced and abundance of food.

After saying this, he called out,
"Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."

And Jesus ended saying, "who ever can hear ought to listen".

Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.

Then the disciples asked for an explanation of the parable.  A parable is a sort of fable or riddle.  It speaks spiritual truths in a veiled or metaphorical manner.

He answered,
"Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;

I will explain it to you because God has so willed.

but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.

But to the rest, they are not.  Jesus here quotes from Isaiah:

Isaiah 44:18
King James Version (KJV)
¹⁸ They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

 I think, what Jesus intends is for the people to seek the answers from the Church.  The disciples being the foundation of the Church and they to whom He will give the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:19-20
King James Version (KJV)
¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 

"This is the meaning of the parable.

Then Jesus explains the parable.

The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.

The seed is the Word of God.  The path symbolizes those individuals who have heard but Satan comes and takes away the Word from their heart so they may not believe and be saved.

Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.

Similary, the rocky ground symbolizes those who hear the Word and accept it with joy, but do not convert and live according to the Word. They believe for a short while but then fall away to temptation.

As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,
and they fail to produce mature fruit.

And also, the seed amongst thorns represents those who hear the Word and attempt to put it to practice, but the anxieties of life overcome them and they never change their lifestyle nor do any good works.

But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance."

But the seed that falls on good soil is the Word of God which is received, accepted and put into practice by righteous souls who persevere in good works to the end.

Matthew 7:24-28
King James Version (KJV)
²⁴ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  ²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  ²⁶ And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:  ²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 

Sincerely,

De Maria