Author: admin

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 1-9

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I’m sure we all want our hearts filled with that fertile soil which Jesus blesses in today’s Gospel. It bears thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold.

But fertile soil is only fertile because first it has been broken. 

In order to make soil fertile, you must crush it, break it open, and repeatedly separate it. After this period of chaos, the ground is ready to receive life.

When placed inside that broken soil, seeds begin to grow. Any plant that bears good fruit was once a tiny seed placed inside soft, fertile soil.

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The same is true for us. When we experience heartache or sorrow, our hearts are broken open like fresh soil. That wound within bears fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold.

But Jesus tells us that we have a say in what type of fruit that will be. 

Without faith, our hearts can dry up like dirt, leading to bitterness and anger.                         

But with faith, we can mysteriously begin to bear good fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.  

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For example, knowing the sorrow that death brings, can allow us to grow in empathy, ministering to others in a more compassionate way. 

Knowing the twinge of hunger can motivate us to feed others who have empty stomachs.

Knowing the pain of loneliness can inspire us to visit others, who may otherwise feel forgotten. 

In the words of one spiritual writer, Jesus can transform us into, “wounded healers.” I’ve found this to be true in my own life: God has used some of my more painful experiences to make me a more merciful minister of the Gospel.

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May the Lord take whatever is broken within us and bless it, so that we can bear good fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.

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Image credits: (1) Redeeming God (2) Ibid. (3) Archdiocese of Los Angeles

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Gospel: John 20: 1-2, 11-18

On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”

Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
“Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her,
“Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he told her.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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The experience of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb reveals that Easter is meant to both console and stretch us.

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According to John’s Gospel, Mary is the first to arrive in the eerily dark and quiet cemetery that first Easter morning. Even before the sun crept over the hills, she was on the go. 

Realizing that the stone had been rolled away, Mary fled in panic, rushing to tell Peter and John. They followed her back to the tomb, but for some reason, the men decided to leave.

Mary, crushed by the death of Jesus – and now his unexplainable absence – sits down and weeps. 

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I suppose she peeked into that darkened tomb simply to remind herself that Jesus wasn’t there. Suddenly, angels appear to her, inquiring what her grief is all about.

Mary doesn’t recognize the divine figures because her eyes and face must’ve been inflamed from crying so many tears; not just that morning, but the night before, and the night before that. 

Then Jesus himself approaches her, and the result is the same. She cannot “see.” 

That’s where humanity’s first experience of Easter begins. In the blurriness; the confusion; the darkness. Mary, abandoned by Peter and John, grieves much like her Master did three days prior.

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I suppose the question we’re supposed to ask is, “Why?” 

“Why” from a thousand different angles. Why death? Why must we suffer? Why does Easter begin in the dark? Why can Mary not recognize Jesus at first? Why can she not physically hold him, even if for a moment?

Answers to such questions reside somewhere within the shroud of mystery. But Mary’s experience of Easter reminds us of some very important lessons in faith.

There is no Easter without Good Friday; there is no hope without loss; divine consolation comes when we weep, but only after we search for the Lord.

“I have seen the Lord,” Mary proclaims. May her experience of Easter become our own. In the words of the Psalmist, “May your mourning be turned into dancing.” 

For Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

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Image credits: (1) Hearing God’s Whisper, WordPress (2) Fritz von Uhde, Noli Mi Tangere (3) Christ is Risen, St. Anthony, Sacramento

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Gospel: Matthew 12: 38-42

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
He said to them in reply,
“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,
so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth
three days and three nights.
At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;
and there is something greater than Jonah here.
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation
and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and there is something greater than Solomon here.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”

Throughout the Old Testament, it was common for the prophets to perform miracles – such as Moses parting the Red Sea or Elijah calling down fire from heaven – to prove that they were, in fact, God’s instruments.

But herein lies the distinction between the prophets and Jesus. 

Jesus is not an instrument of God; he is God. The fact that God has taken on flesh, fulfilling nearly 300 Old Testament prophecies, and is now standing in the midst of his people is itself the miracle. 

(Not to mention all of the healings that Jesus had already performed).

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Doubling-down on his position, Jesus mentions two Old Testament figures whom people recognized as being God’s instruments without having to perform miracles.

The Ninevites recognized God’s warning in Jonah, and the queen of the south recognized God’s wisdom in Solomon. 

In both cases, it was the person who was accepted as being a divine representative; not any miracle they performed. “And there is something greater than Solomon here,” Jesus says.

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So, what does this mean for us?

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If we want to understand God, then we must understand Jesus. Study his teachings. Live his Word. Emulate his heart. Place your life in his hands.

This would be the greatest “miracle” of all, which God desired for the crowds that day, and for us – not some physical healing or parting of the skies – but developing a friendship with his Son, “who has loved us and given himself for us.”

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Image credits: (1) Grace Evangelical Society (2) Christ and the Pharisees, Ernst Zimmerman (3) Pantocrator, Sinai