|
|
|
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Matt.13/1-23 |
||
| Background: For the next several Sundays we
will hear parables in St. Matthew’s gospel. The parables, powerful stories with a
single disconcerting and challenging point, were Jesus’s favorite way of teach and,
according to many scholars, reveal the religious experience of Jesus, his insight into the
Father in heaven. Parables demand thought and are often hard to understand. Both this
Sunday and next Sunday, in the two parables of the sower (which may be different versions
of the same parable) are part of a tradition of parables of reassurance, of encouragement,
of confidence. They are paralleled by another tradition of parables of warning, of
challenge, of urgency. The trouble with parables is that they are disturbing, baffling,
puzzling. To try to explain a parable is to deprive it of its fire and fury, of its power
and intensity. Even the earliest Christians, however, tried to tame the parables of Jesus.
Thus the allegorical (a meaning attached to each event instead of a single powerful and
disturbing meaning) interpretation of the stories this week and next week is something
that Jesus, good story teller that he was, would have never attempted. Rather in an early
stage of the Christian tradition this explanation was added to Jesus’s original
story. The allegory is not “wrong” but it does deprive the story today of its
most powerful meaning: the word of God, God’s people, God’s church, God’s
invitation to each of us can overcome any obstacle. That is, when one thinks about it, a
very disturbing notion because it demands total faith in God’s word and Her eventual
triumph |
read the padre
Keep in
touch... |
|
 |
Story: Once upon a time there were two
commodity brokers. One of them dashed on to the floor of the exchange and cornered the
other. “Sell!” he shouted. “Sell.” Why his partner asked him. “Because
I’ve got this top secret weather report. Despite the poor beginning of the season
with all the rain and the cold weather, this is going to be a bumper harvest, the biggest
ever. We’re going to have grain pouring out of our ears in this place.” That was
an odd thing to say because there never was any grain in the exchange, not these days. The
second man glanced at the weather report – it looked very official – and noted
that it did indeed predict a perfect summer for the crops. If it was true those who were
buying grain now, going long, would lose tons of money and the short sellers could make a
fortune. “Go short! Sell now! It’s a sure thing.” Where did you get this,
his friend asked. “Don’t ask. I haven’t broken any laws, but this is a sure
thing. You can make a fortune!” The second man nodded. I see your point he
said. “Then sell! Now!” But the second man was unwilling to take a chance. He
stopped buying grain. But he didn’t sell either. Then when the first crop reports
came in, the bottom dropped out of the grain market. Our friend didn’t lose much
money but he didn’t make much either. He consoled himself with the thought that one
should never bet on a sure thing, even if it turns out to be sure.
|
|
