Daily Readings - Sat Sep 22 2018
1 Corinthians
35But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?"36You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.37And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.42So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.45Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.46But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.47The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.49Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.50I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Luke
4And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable:5"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.6And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.7And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.8And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."9And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,10he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.12The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.13And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.14And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.15As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Sermon
In today's readings, we encounter powerful themes of transformation and growth, inviting us to reflect on our spiritual journeys. The first reading from 1 Corinthians explores the mystery of the resurrection, where Paul uses the analogy of a seed to illustrate the transformation from a physical body to a spiritual one. This passage reassures us that our current form is not the final one; God's plan is one of glorious transformation. The context of this passage is Paul addressing doubts in the Corinthian church about the resurrection, emphasizing that the resurrected body, though different, is real and part of God's divine plan.
In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus shares the parable of the sower, where the seed represents the word of God. The different soils symbolize the various responses to this word—some reject it, others accept it superficially, and a few nurture it to bear fruit. This parable, part of Jesus' teachings on the kingdom of God, highlights the importance of receptivity and perseverance in our spiritual lives. The connection between the two readings lies in their focus on transformation: in Corinthians, it's the body's transformation, and in Luke, it's the heart's transformation through God's word.
Applying these teachings to our daily lives, we are called to be like the good soil—open, receptive, and nurturing. In a world filled with distractions and challenges, we must cultivate our hearts to allow God's word to take root and grow. The moral lesson here is the importance of spiritual receptivity and perseverance. Just as a seed requires fertile soil, water, and patience to bear fruit, our faith requires dedication and trust in God's transformative power. Let us strive to be the good soil, trusting that God's word will bring forth a bountiful harvest in our lives.