How to get a hundred-fold harvest

Welcome to my blog and peace be with you!

You will find here, daily readings from the Scriptures with a prayerful reflection. Reading slowly and prayerfully the Word of God is the way to get into contact with Him. The reflection may help you turn to God, who has revealed himself in the man Jesus, himself God.

I follow the sequential readings given us by the Catholic Church for each day.

The Word of God is like the rain. As the rain bring fruitfulness to the earth, may his Word bear abundant fruit in your life.

I will be happy to receive your comments and also any question you may have about the Scriptures or the Catholic Faith.

Friday 24 July 2020

How to get a hundred-fold harvest

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Ps 53: 6, 8

See, I have God for my help.

The Lord sustains my soul.

I will sacrifice to you with willing heart,

and praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.

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Prayer

Father in heaven, give us your Holy Spirit

so that on fire with faith, hope and love

we may always keep your commandments.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

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First reading

Jeremiah 3:14-17

Come back, my disloyal children

Come back, disloyal children – it is the Lord who speaks – for I alone am your Master. I will take one from a town, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds after my own heart, and these shall feed you on knowledge and discretion. And when you have increased and become many in the land, then – it is the Lord who speaks – no one will ever say again: Where is the ark of the covenant of the Lord? There will be no thought of it, no memory of it, no regret for it, no making of another. When that time comes, Jerusalem shall be called: The Throne of the Lord; all the nations will gather there in the name of the Lord and will no longer follow the dictates of their own stubborn hearts.

Prayerful reflection

In the prophet Jeremiah God speaks of his relationship with his people in terms of a marriage. He has chosen Israel and Israel at mount Sinai responded to God’s love by choosing him and promising to be faithful to him. God’s love is an everlasting love. Israel’s is fickle. God needs to show infinite patience with the continuing infidelity of his bride. He constantly calls her back to him. He promises that if she is faithful, there will be no need to look back to the days of Moses, Joshua, David and the Ark of the Covenant. Her future will be more glorious. Israel failed to listen to God speaking through his prophet.

The message for us today is clear. God does not change. His love for us is everlasting and infinite. He has made himself visible now and easily approachable in Jesus, God himself. Jesus calls himself ‘the Bridegroom’.

Do you see your relationship with God, in Christ Jesus, as a spiritually nuptial one?

Do you see sin as a ‘nuptial infidelity’ to God?

  

Responsorial Psalm

Jeremiah 31:10-13

The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

O nations, hear the word of the Lord,

proclaim it to the far-off coasts.

Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him

and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.’

The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,

has saved him from an overpowering hand.

They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion,

they will stream to the blessings of the Lord.

The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock

Then the young girls will rejoice and dance,

the men, young and old, will be glad.

I will turn their mourning into joy,

I will console them, give gladness for grief.

The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock

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.Lk8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are those who,

with a noble and generous heart,

take the word of God to themselves

and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

Alleluia!

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Gospel

Matthew 13:18-23

The man who hears the word and understands it yields a rich harvest

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’

Prayerful reflection

What is the soil that produces a hundred-fold? That is the soul who surrenders completely to the love of God. God’s love for you is infinite – there is nothing he will refuse you to make you truly happy and fulfilled. He will even give you himself in a union of love which is beyond anything we can dream of or imagine. If you surrender completely to his Love, his Love will work everything out for you. If only we could truly believe this. The good news is that is true. Let us learn to cast aside all our own desires and allow him to possess us. The resulting harvest is unimaginable.

Do you dare to let go? Every day, a little more.

Ps 110: 4-5

The Lord, the gracious, the merciful,

has made a memorial of his wonders;

he gives food to those who fear him.

Prayer

Graciously be present to your people, we pray, O Lord,

and lead those you have imbued with heavenly mysteries

to pass from former ways to newness of life.

Through Christ our Lord.