Ordinary 15

The Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 65; Roman 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23

Jesus closely observed his world. As he made his way throughout the land, he often stopped to contemplate the beauty woven into creation by our God. Jesus continues to call our attention to the creation around us. “Lift up your eyes and see how the fields are already white for harvest”._[John4:35]“Look at the birds in the sky, they do not sow nor reap…”_{[Matthew 6:26]} “Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. _{[Matthew 6:28-29]} “Learn a lesson from the fig tree…”_{[Matthew 24:32]}

Jesus speaks of vineyards and wheat harvests and draws are attention to what we can learn from the seasons. He continues to teach us today to observe the fruits of the seeds of mustard, wheat and weeds. Sheep, donkeys, and goats; sparrows and doves; wolves and serpents; oxen and fish populate his life and stories.

Jesus uses the earth, its seasons, plants and animals to teach about the Kingdom of God.

Isaiah also observed his world. The rains and snow fall from the heavens. They water the earth, making it fertile giving forth seed that burgeon into the plants from which we make our food. Without water, the earth is not fertile; without the fruits of the earth, we human beings could not sustain ourselves.

What Genesis, the Psalms and Jesus teach is that humanity is closely entwined in a relationship with God, our neighbor and the earth. In his encyclical letter, Laudato Si’ – On the Care for our Common Home, Pope Francis writes, “Everything is related, and we humans beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth.”_[#92]*

“Everything is related…” Creation and humanity are dependent upon God. We are dependent on each other and the earth with all its diverse ecosystems. Moreover, the earth depends on our human care.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “God wills the interdependence of creatures. [The] spectacle of their countless diversities and inequalities tells us that no creature is self-sufficient. Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in service to each other”._{[Catechism #340]}

The observations of Isaiah are paired with the parable of the sower, seed and soil. What if we interpreted the parable in the light of our present environmental crisis?

“Some seed fell on the path and the birds came and ate it up”.

How much of the earth have we paved over with concrete and asphalt for parking lots, streets, highways, and driveways. No wonder the seed can be so easily picked up and eaten.

“Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil”.

How much of the expanding deserts have been caused by our deforestation of the earth. Consider the rain-forests of the Amazon. They are the largest expanse of primary forest on the planet. Can the world community trust political leaders and countries with elements of the earth that affect us all? Is ‘internationalizing’ the Amazon an option?

“Some seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.”

Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Along with four other islands of plastic and human garbage floating in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans these islands, twice the size of Texas, are choking off marine life.***

Daily we watch the reports of severe heat in Texas, Florida, Spain and China; extreme flooding in Vermont, India and Japan; and wildfires in our Southwest, Australia and Canada. Radiation from nuclear power plant accidents or the smoke of wildfires as we have experienced is blown across the planet with no respect to national or continental boundaries. What might happen in the Russo-Ukrainian War with the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine?

We are the first generations of human beings to observe our planet from the depths of outer space. This beautiful orb of blues, greens and whites sit like a diamond on a jeweler’s piece of black velvet. No boundaries of any kind; an integrated wholeness. Yet why has this image not changed how we perceive ourselves? Why has it not humbled humanity as we see ourselves in relation to the whole planet?  Why has this image not changed how we act toward each other and the creatures that share this planet with us?

Dorothy Day wrote, “We need a reverence for the Earth”.

She asks us, “Why is it so hard to express love for the ground we stand on, this giant globe pulsing with …all manner of beings?

Is it because we have so thoroughly bought into the notion of dominion that to bend ourselves to the Earth is an impossibility?

Or is it because the fear of its loss is unbearable?

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*Laudato Si’ – On Care for Our Common Home, Encyclical letter  by Pope Francis, 2015.

**Google Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

***Pray with The Canticle of the Sun by Saint Francis of Assisi.

****Pray and mediate with a photo of the earth from outer space.