Parishable Items

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Jesus’s favorite way of teaching was by using stories and parables. The story makes it more approachable and leads us to discover it for ourselves. We recall stories much more than abstract things; today’s gospel narrates the familiar parable of the sower and the different kinds of soil on which the seed falls. This story encourages us to reflect on our own lives and our response to the good news of God’s loving reign. It invites each of us to ask, what kind of soil am I?

Today Jesus speaks about four types of land, path, stones, thorns, and the last is good ground. The seed fallen on the path stands for those who hear the message of the kingdom of God but do not understand it, thus the evil one comes and snatches it away. The evil one does not want the seed of the Gospel to sprout in the heart of man.

The second is that of the seed fallen among the stones, this represents the people who hear the word of God and understand it immediately, but when trials and tribulations arise, these people give up immediately.

The third is that of the seed fallen among the bushes with thorns; Jesus explains that this refers to the people who hear the word but care about the world and the temptation of riches, being choked. Finally, the seed that fell on the fertile soil represents those who hear the word, accept it, cherish it, and understand it.

The enemy of our life here is ignorance, trials, tribulations, focus on money, possessions, pleasure, comfort, and indifference. All these may lead to the seed of God’s word to wither and die, or be carried away by the winds of the world.

Jesus invites us to have good dispositions be docile to His word, grow, and bear fruit in us. Today we must ask ourselves how our heart is. Which soil does it resemble? That of the path, the rocks, the thorns? It is up to us to become good soil and bear good fruit for us and for our brothers and sisters.

Today we must examine ourselves, Am I a catholic who actively practices my faith and love of God? or am I simply someone who attends church on Sundays and just identify as a catholic without truly living out my beliefs? Do I truly understand and put into action the teaching of Jesus as found in the Gospel?

Let’s remember that for a plant to grow, it needs to be watered, cared for, and protected from bugs or diseases. To practice our faith, we must nurture it by reading scripture and continually deepen our prayer, the sacraments, and ongoing education, in order to live our faith well. As St. Jerome says ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.

At the same time, we are also sowers for people who rely on us. Do we make an effort to teach others about the faith through our prayers, actions, and words? Our words and actions have the power to do both good and harm, they can build up or cause scandal, they can inspire or discourage, can bring souls closer to Christ, or push them away. So try to be good soil and sower of the word of God to His people.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes
(As preached at St. Paul’s Parish)

Imagine if St. Paul’s Parish had turned out very differently than what we see today. Imagine if we had not only failed to reach our capital campaign pledge goal for renovating this church — imagine we had never even attempted it. Imagine unmet maintenance needs all around our campus: Our church roofs in desperate need of re-shingling. Our church attic lacking proper insulation. Our undercroft walls in clear need of refreshing. Our crumbling parking lot in need of repaving. No digital sign promoting our parish on our front lawn. Imagine there was never a new extension added between our church and the school. The gym, library, computer lab, and other rooms were never built. They would not be needed now anyway, since our school closed down years ago. All our grade school children enrolled in the secular public school.

A lack of sufficient volunteers ended our CCD/religious education program, teen youth ministries, and Vacation Bible Schools. Sunday Masses’ Children’s Liturgies never even began. Our Thrift Sale pavilion building, likewise deprived of sufficient volunteers, became used for nothing more than storage. At parish funerals, no resurrection singers in the balcony, nor ladies providing luncheons for the mourners after. No Family Life Committee meals marking each year’s marriage anniversaries and dearly departed souls. No Sojourner House evenings, no KC or PCCW events, no Fall Festival. No Eucharistic Adoration, no prayer chain, no prayer shawls, and few Communions being brought to the homebound. Not only no associate priest coming to our parish, but also no priestly vocations coming out of our parish. And many more lost things than this. Imagine all these things gone and the resulting missing goodness.

The good things we enjoy in our parish are the result of the seed Jesus speaks of in our Gospel. He is the Sower who goes out to sow, but some seed falls on hardened hearts and quickly gets gobbled up. Some seed falls on weedy hearts and gets choked by the worldly fears or earthly desires living there. Some seed falls on shallow hearts and is betrayed as soon as trials or difficulties come. But the Sower’s seed has found rich soil in some, in the hearts of those who listen to his word and understand it, bearing fruit a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold in our parish.

Now ordinary soulless soil cannot choose to change, but you can! Make a decision of your will and invite the Sower to cultivate you. Ask Jesus to help you to believe and understand him. Ask him to calm your fears and disordered desires. Ask him to deepen the personal connection between you. With Jesus Christ, you can change the sort of soil you are in order to bear more fruit with him. The Sower sows the seed in hopes it will produce much fruit, and along with it, more seed. Together with the Sower, we should scatter seed too.

Imagine a St. Paul’s Parish of tomorrow greater than we see now: Each pew of our renovated and beautified church filled on Sundays. More families worshipping here with their children. A full set of altar servers and a choir for every Sunday Mass. Our great Catholic school, enrolled to its full capacity. New parishioner initiatives and efforts to bless our community. And scores of your relatives, friends, and neighbors returning to the Church or joining her for the first time.

Is this not what the Sower of the seeds wills for our parish? He desires each of us to play a part in his mission, and our role is simple. Pray to God and offer sacrifices for these good things to come be. Pray earnestly to those around you and boldly invite them to join us. (Remember how the Sower casts the seed all around him on every ground.) And be living saints, whose lives, devotion, words, and deeds, bear good and lasting fruit for yourself and others, thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.