Homilies

15th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: THE POWER AND DYNAMISM OF THE WORD OF GOD

ALBERT SCHWEITZER was once a famous musical conductor in the US. At a young age, he became a multi- millionaire. However, one day, he abandoned his lucrative career in music and in lieu, he studied medicine. Afterward, he went to Africa and became a missionary doctor. He was once interviewed and he was asked what led him to give up the fame and riches he had had. His response: ‘The Word of God!” Accordingly, he read and reflected on the biblical story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. In his reflections, he found that he was the rich man and the people in Africa are Lazaruses. He felt that he cannot live lavishly at the expense of those people living in poverty, especially in Africa.

Such is the Word of God. The Hebrew “dabar” has such power and dynamism that those who really read or listen to it are indeed moved by it. But the problem lies in the people who receive the Word of God. The four kinds of soil depicted in the parable are four attitudes on how people responded upon hearing the Word of God.

When Jesus exhorted his disciples, “Whoever has ears ought to hear,” it was a reminder for all of us that we should allow the Word of God to produce fruitfully in our lives. However, most of the time, it does not happen. Joining the Holy Eucharistic celebration is an opportunity and for some, the only opportunity, to hear the Word of God. Unfortunately, our attitude has not been that good because we don’t actually listen to it. What we usually do inside the Church is just look at the reader and we don’t pay attention to what he or she reads. Such then when the priest asks, “What was the first reading all about?”we could hardly give an answer to it. Or if the readings are rather long, some feel uneasy about it and wonder when will the reading end. And when the reader finally says, “This is the Word of the Lord,” our reply could be loud and emphatic, “Thanks be to God!” (for at last it ends).

Consequently, our awful attitudes to the Word of God need to be corrected. If we want to feel the power of the Word of God; if we want to allow the Word of God produce fruits in our lives, we need to have some good attitudes. Let me propose three attitudes:

The first is attraction. We, humans, are usually attracted to something beautiful and someone to who is beautiful. The Word of God has an inherent beauty; the Word of God is indeed beautiful. Therefore, we should be attracted to the Word of God. When the Word of God is about to be read, our ears should have been ready to listen to it. Listening to the Word of God is the same as watching something which is beautiful. In watching a beautiful thing or person, we fix our eyes on the object seen. In the same way, in listening to the Word of God, we should also fix also our ears to it.

The second is reflection. The power and dynamism of the Word of God can be felt when we spend time reflecting on it. Albert Schweitzer now works for the poor in Africa because he was moved by the Word of God. But, remember, he was moved by it only because he reflected on it. Thus, listening to the Word of God during the holy Eucharistic celebrations cannot be enough. We nevertheless need to spend some moments of meditation and reflection on it.

The third is devotion. We Filipinos are fond of having devotions and our piety is characterized as something devotional. Some people would even emphasize more their devotions to Sacred Heart and Mother of Perpetual Help than the holy mass. But seldom do we hear from people that they have a devotion to the Word of God. Almost all of the Catholics have Bibles in their homes. But we wonder how often they open it. Again, if we want the Word of God to produce fruits in our life, we need to regularly read it.

I believe that when we develop these attitudes, we become a “good soil” wherein the Word of God can grow and produce a hundredfold.

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