15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) - 12 July 2026
12th July 2026
“The seed is the Word of God, and the sower is Christ.” - St Augustine
A reflection on today's Gospel taken from an excerpt of the Angelus Address by Pope Benedict XVI at the Courtyard of the Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo on Sunday, 10 July 2011:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In this Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 13:1-23), Jesus recounts to the crowd the well-known Parable of the Sower. In a certain way it is an “autobiographical” passage, for it reflects the very experience of Jesus, of His preaching. He identifies Himself with the sower who scatters the good seed of the Word of God and notes the different effects it obtains, in accordance with the way in which people hear the proclamation.
Some listen superficially to the Word but do not take it in; others accept it at the time but are unable to persevere and lose it all; there are those who are engrossed by worldly concerns and enticements; and those who listen receptively, like the good soil: here the word bears an abundance of fruit.
However, this Gospel also puts the accent on Jesus’ preaching “method”, that is, on His use of parables. “Why do you speak to them in parables?”, His disciples ask (Mt 13:10). And Jesus answers distinguishing between them and the crowd: to His disciples — namely to those who have already decided for Him — He can speak openly about the Kingdom of God, to others, instead, He must proclaim it in parables, precisely to encourage their decision, conversion of the heart; indeed, by their very nature parables demand the effort of interpretation, they not only challenge the mind but also freedom. St John Chrysostom explained: “And this He [Jesus] says to draw them unto Him, and to provoke them and to signify that if they would convert He would heal them” (see Homily on the Gospel of Matthew, 45, 1-2).
Basically, God’s true “Parable” is Jesus Himself, His Person Who, in the sign of humanity, hides and at the same time reveals His divinity. In this manner God does not force us to believe in Him but attracts us to Him with the truth and goodness of His incarnate Son: love, in fact, always respects freedom.
May the Virgin Mary help us, through her example, to be “good soil” where the seed of the Word may bear fruit in abundance.
A Morning Prayer Written by St Therese of Lisieux (Patroness of the Missions)
O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love.
O my God! I ask of Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all Eternity. Amen.