Monday, September 23, 2013


Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcino, priest

(Ezra 1:1-6; Luke 8:16-18)

The wives of two men watching television in their own homes come to their respective husbands.  Each woman says, “I have something to tell you.”  One man says back, “O.K., what is it?”  The other turns off the television, motions to his wife to sit next to him, and says the same, “O.K., what is it?”  Which of the two will really hear what his wife wants to tell him?  In the gospel today Jesus warns the people to take the care of the second man in hearing his words.

The passage is composed of three sayings that follow Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed.  The seed, of course, is a metaphor for the word of God and the different types of ground that it falls on represent different kinds of hearers.  Jesus is exhorting the people to be fertile ground, that is, again, listeners who pay close attention to his words.

After hearing the gospel passages read at mass for thirty, forty, and fifty years we may take them for granted.  But if we do not heed them, they cannot give us life.  We do well to take them to heart.  They can change our lives from the ordinary to the saintly.  They can bear abundant fruit in us.