GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 20TH JULY 2016
WEDNESDAY OF THE 16TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1ST READING: Jeremiah 1:1,4-10
PSALM: Psalm 71: 1-6, 15, 17
GOSPEL: Matthew 13:1-9
THEME: A PROPHET TO THE NATIONS
A prophet scatters seeds given to him by God. He is a sower of the Word of God. Those who receive the Word with a heart of faith bear fruits of righteousness.
In our First Reading, we have an account of the call of Jeremiah. He appears on the scene at a time when Judah was being buffeted by different superpowers – Assyria to the north, Egypt to the south and Babylon to the east. In calling Jeremiah to the ministry of a prophet, the Lord said to him, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer 1:9-10).
A word from a commander of an army is powerful enough to send troops into action. In the same way, every prophetic word has power to cause change. Jesus, in our Gospel text, speaks of the potency of the Word of God using the parable of the sower. Some seeds “fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Mt. 13:8).
In every generation, God raises up prophets. They proclaim not their owns words but the Word of God. As we yield daily with a heart of faith to the message they have for us, a change takes place in us. Like a growing plant, this change often takes place in silence but sooner or later it becomes visible for all to see.
Lord Jesus, I generously offer to you today, the soil of my heart. Plant your Word deep down in me that I may bear fruits in abundance to glorify your name. Amen.
Fr. Andrews Obeng, SVD
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)