Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about the parable of the sower and shows us through this parable that the road to salvation is not a wide one but a hard and narrow path.  He explains that while the word of God is sown throughout many people, only a few will hear the word and truly understand its meaning.  Many will fall prey to the dangers of sin in this world and put worldly things before God in their lives, but those who stay true to God’s word will receive the grace and salvation promised to them.

Jesus gives us many examples of people who have heard the word of God and yet fell away because while they may have heard, they did not understand.  They were tempted by worldly things and instant gratification or gave up on believing after any tribulation they faced as it became uncomfortable to follow in God’s word.  How many times have we done these same things that Jesus warns about?  He never said that it would be easy to follow Him, but have Jesus and His saints not faced these same temptations and persecutions?  However, instead of taking solace in the ease of worldly sin, Jesus and His saints took comfort in the Father and His word.  After Jesus sowed the word of God for His apostles and saints, they prayed for the grace to understand and receive the word joyfully instead of rejecting things that they did not agree with or not yet understand and they were rewarded with the grace of God and the salvation promised to them.  They were steadfast in their beliefs and they embody the rich soil who produce much fruit from the parable that we are all called to be.

Ryan Marcovecchio (Drexel Alumni, Class of 2023)