Reflections on the Sunday Readings

  As we look at the gospel for this Sunday there's a lot of similarity with  the gospel from last Sunday.   In fact, we might call both gospels agricultural gospels, since they deal with the growing of foods for the service of people.                                                                                                                                     Last week we talked about the condition of the soil and how the seed responds to that so...

                                                      The 15 th  Sunday in Ordinary The readings this weekend seem to preach their own homily.  They are simple and not too complex.     From the first reading to the last, the gospel, they speak about words and the Word of God.  The words of God come from the Old Testament and the prophets like Isaiah in the first reading.  The Word of God comes in the New Testament through the life and salvific work of Jesus Christ.                              Of course, in the Old Testament there were many words of God as we look at what the prophets and people like Moses wrote.  The gospels speak not only of the words of God also, but more importantly they speak the only Word of God, Jesus, “In th...

One of the words in the gospel this weekend that really spoke to me was these words about yoking.   “In its most common literal sense, a yoke  refers to a  wooden bar or frame  used to join two draft animals (such as oxen, horses, mules, or water buffalo) at their heads or necks so they can work together pulling a plow, cart, or other load” 1  Yoking means coupling or joining with, in order to complete a task or objective.   In the gospel, Jesus invites us to take his yoke upon our shoulders.    A yoke always requires a relationship between two (i.e., persons, animals, or objects) So, Jesus is inviting us to join him in his work of salvation for the world.                                                                                 ...