HOMILY FOR THE 15th SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME YEAR A

1.Is 55:10-11

2. Rom 8:18-23

Gospel: Mt 13:1-23

                          " What about our time?"

When we listen the scripture readings each time we sometimes feel that they don't apply to our lives. Today's gospel could be one of those instances. Jesus talks about sowing seeds, however, what do we know about seeds? If he mentioned super markets, restaurants or McDonalds we might pay attention. We don't scatter seeds to obtain our food and we probably don't know much about the growth process of most of the crops from which we get our daily sustenance.

Let us ask ourselves one question that, is there anything that we sow, that we spread, that does have an effect upon our lives? What about our time? Yes we do scatter the minutes or of our day just as a farmer would scatter the seeds in a field. We scatter 60 seconds each minute, 60 minutes each our, for about 16 hours each day. By simple mathematics that is about 57,000 seconds that we scatter throughout daily routine. That is a lot of seeds.

Nevertheless, how does this apply to the words Jesus spoke to His Jewish followers? He said that if the farmer scatters his seeds in certain ways, he will not reap a bountiful harvest. His message to each of us, today, is the same. In the gospel we hear Jesus mentioning the seeds sown on the path where the ground  is so hard that nothing can take root. That is like sewing grass seed on our drive ways. Nothing will grow. Likewise, if we are sowing our minutes each day on hard ground pursuing money, power, or influence we are making the same mistake the farmer made? If we have no time for prayer, no time for our families, no time for helping others our minutes will not bear fruit, we will not store up an abundance of grace or of charity.

By like token, we can too spread our minutes on the rocky ground. We can spend hours at the office or on the golf course. We can attend luncheons or bridge parties and like the seed that fell on rocky ground, we will have no roots. We will not have  time to attend Mass during the week or pause to say the rosary while driving in our cars. Therefore, our minutes will not bear fruit.

Dear brothers and sisters I would ask you to listen to the words of Jesus. He said, " Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew and choked it." If anyone sows their seeds in the thorns of drugs, alcohol and sins against sixth commandment, Jesus warns us that our lives will be chopped  out. Some of you are probably familiar with friends who sowed their seeds among the thorns and did not find the fulfillment of a rich harvest but the agony of tragedy. Think of them as you listen to words of Jesus this Sunday.

Is Jesus saying we shouldn't work hard to support our families, that we should never relax and enjoy ourselves or engage in wholesome entertainment with our friends? Not at all! Jesus died so that we could be happy, so that our lives could be full and so that we could have an eternal future with Him. However, for that to happen we must make decisions. We must understand that He isn't talking seeds but he is talking about how we spend our minutes and whether or not we are making the same mistakes the farmer made.

In order to counteract the immoral modern society, Jesus is telling us to sow our minutes on the rich soil, sow them in a such a way that we can find happiness and fulfillment. Where is the "rich soil"? It's right here, here in this Church this Sunday.  We are all spreading our seeds, our minutes, in an atmosphere that allows us to grow, not in a worldly fashion, but in a way that ensures us of real life, a life of fulfillment in Jesus' words.

Where is real happiness? We find it in being charitable, prayerful, loving our children, loving and helping our parents. We find real happiness in honesty, chastity, sobriety and freedom from drugs. We find happiness in the words of Jesus, " If you love me you will keep my commandments" or " Love one another as I have loved you." Yes, Jesus has promised that we will reap a huge harvest by following his teaching. By following His commandments, by loving others as we love ourselves and by using our minutes to help those less fortunate, to spend time each day in prayer and by realizing that His words guide us to true happiness we can reap the harvest He has promised.

Jesus has promised all this to us. We can have everything by spreading  our minutes wisely both in His service and by following  His commandments. He points the way to true happiness.

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