24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) : Saturday 17th September 2022

Jesus often uses ordinary examples from daily life to teach the crowds. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus speaks about the seed being sowed and what happens to it. Jesus concludes the parable with a challenge to the crowd: “Listen, anyone who has ears to hear.”

Truly hearing the Word of God includes doing that Word. However, Christian tradition shows that by the time of the evangelist Luke, Jesus’ teachings fell on deaf ears. While His teachings may have been quite clear when Jesus first spoke them, in the succeeding decades, their implications had become unclear to many disciples who were called to discern their meaning for changing situations.

The passage in the first reading describes Paul’s argument with some Christians in Corinth regarding the resurrection. Because they failed to understand the manner of the Resurrection or the body’s appearance at the resurrection, these people challenged the idea that there is a Resurrection. Paul is critical of them. He points out that even an ordinary example from agriculture offers an example of the resurrection: the seed must die to produce the full-blown plant. Therefore, the mystery of the resurrection is an everyday occurrence, yet humans could not understand this.

How about you? Are the teachings of Jesus understandable and relevant for you? Or have the changes in the world and society caused you to become sceptical or confused about His teachings?

Lord, may I truly hear and do Your Word.