Reflection on Today's Readings, Friday of 16th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1, 23rd July, 2021
Texts: Ex. 20:1-17; Ps. 19:8.9.10.11; Mtt. 13: 18-23
In today's gospel reading, Jesus says, _"As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit"_ This means the word of God becomes fruitful in those who understand it. Hence, we are to seek to understand the word of God; we owe God to keep His words. Understanding the words of God is important to us, His children. We are to pay attention to His words and always keep them in our hearts. He says, _"My child, do not forget my teaching, let your heart keep my principles"_ (Prov. 3:1). We keep His words in our hearts that we might observe and do them. Those who represent the path on which the seeds fell did not keep the words in their hearts.
We are to always read and meditate on the words of God so that when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word we will not fall away but be courageous and faithful till the end. Reading and meditating on God's words deepen faith which makes us stand firm in time of tribulation or persecution. We are to also moderate our desire for the things of this world, so as to avoid distractions from our devotion to God.
We are to keep His words because He is our Saviour and we owe Him our freedom. Therefore, He says, in the first reading, _“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me."_ We live because of Him; we live because He saved us. Apart from Him, we are nothing. For this reason, keeping His words is for our good.
God as the Saviour deserves our trust and confidence. Because He saved us, He is worthy of our trust. Reposing our confidence in Him is our acknowledgement of Him as our Saviour. We repose our confidence in Him by keeping His words and serving Him alone. When we serve other gods, it is a denial of Him as our Saviour. We are to serve God and serve Him alone. He says, _"you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."_ Let us love God that we may enjoy His mercy and love.
The first three commandments, in the first reading, deal with the love of God. We show our love of God by serving Him alone, keeping His name holy and keeping the sabbath day holy. We keep His name holy by living righteously. When we live in holiness, we keep His name holy. The keeping of sabbath day holy means giving Him time in our lives. We need time to meditate on His words and deepen them in our lives. We grow in understanding of His word when we meditate on them. When we understand His words, we become fruitful, bearing fruits in one case a hundred fold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. We also show our love of God by our love for one another. The remaining seven commandments, in the first reading, deal with love of neighbours. It is when we love God and love our neighbours that we understand the words of God and do them. When we love our neighbours, we have fulfilled the the remaining seven commandments.
Lord our God, blessed be your Holy name; may we always abide in your words, that we may be fruitful in love of You and our neighbours. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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