Not Just a Patch of Earth

Jul 26: Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

According to a 2 -century tradition, Anne and Joachim conceived Mary as a gift from God after years of infertility. Devotion to Anne dates to around 550, when Emperor Justinian built a church in her honor. She is frequently depicted teaching Mary to read the Scriptures.

Pope Francis wrote: “Saints Joachim and Anne were part of a long chain of people who had transmitted their faith and love for God, expressed in the warmth and love of family life, down to Mary, who received the Son of God in her womb and who gave him to the world, to us. How precious is the family as the privileged place for transmitting the faith!”

Reading 1 

Jer 3:14-17

Return, rebellious children, says the LORD, for I am your Master; I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently. When you multiply and become fruitful in the land, says the LORD, They will in those days no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD!” They will no longer think of it, or remember it,  or miss it, or make another.

At that time they will call Jerusalem the LORD’s throne; there all nations will be gathered together to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem, and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.

At this time, Israel had been divided into two kingdoms. Because of that division, they had been conquered and exiled. God wants to reunite them. Further, Jeremiah prophesies that God will gather all nations together, healing the unnecessary divisions between peoples.

Responsorial Psalm 

Jer 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13

R. (see 10d) The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock. 
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Here, Jeremiah prophesies what it will be like once Israel is reunited. But Israel is not just a plot of land. The reunification of Israel represents how all nations will be gathered together as one.

Alleluia

See Lk 8:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

We are not the fruit, but the soil!

Gospel

Mt 13:18-23

Jesus said to his disciples: “Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

We are like soil, in that we receive the Word of God (such as the Ten Commandments). It’s not something we can create on our own. But what we do with what we’ve received matters. Do we reject it? Ignore it? Focus on worldly concerns? We can be the rich soil, if only we chose to be.