Category: Parables

CATHOLIC FAITHWATCH: “[Saint John Paul II on the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the Merciful Father -] General Audience, Sept. 8, 2019” – VaticanVa

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Saint Pope John Paul II file photo, adapted from image at archives.gov

“… God’s Forgiveness is revealed through Jesus’ Words and Deeds. In pardoning sins, Jesus shows the Face of God the Merciful Father. … The high point of this revelation can be considered the sublime parable … usually called ‘the prodigal son’ … which should be called ‘the Merciful Father’ … God’s Attitude is presented in terms that are truly overwhelming in comparison with human criteria …. Leaving the father’s house clearly expresses … sin as an act of ungrateful rebellion with … humanly painful consequences.  … the father, catching sight of him while still a long way off, runs to meet him full of compassion (or better, ‘inwardly moved with pity,’ as the Greek text literally says: Lk 15: 20), embraces him lovingly and wants everyone to celebrate with him.

… legalism is surpassed by the father’s generous and gratuitous love …. Forgiveness consists not only in taking [the prodigal son] back … but also … the joy of restored communion, bringing him from death to life. … The merciful Father who embraces the prodigal son is the definitive icon of God revealed by Christ. First and foremost He is Father. It is God the Father who extends his arms in blessing and forgiveness, always waiting ….  [Jesus] has been sent to manifest the Father’s mercy. This is the mercy that shines brightly especially on Golgotha, in the sacrifice offered by Christ for the forgiveness of sins ….”

Click here for: “[Saint John Paul II on the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the Merciful Father -] General Audience, Sept. 8, 2019” – VaticanVa

This Angelus also was the subject of the following Vatican Information Service press release from 1999:

GOD SHOWS HIS MERCY IN PARDONING SINS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 8, 1999 (VIS) – In this morning’s general audience held in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father, continuing his reflections on the meaning of conversion, spoke of the significance of the remission of sins which is offered through sacramental meditation.

If, said the Pope, forgiveness of sin in the Old Testament “does not attenuate man’s responsibility and the need for his commitment to conversion,” in the New Testament “God’s forgiveness is manifested through the words and deeds of Jesus. In forgiving sin, Jesus reveals to us the merciful face of the Father.”

John Paul II confirmed that the “pinnacle of this revelation may be considered as being the parable which is known as the ‘prodigal son’ but which should be called the ‘merciful father.'”

“The decision of the younger son to liberate himself (from his father) … is a blatant rejection of family communion. The distancing from the paternal home well expresses the meaning of sin and its character of ungrateful rebellion.” Human logic, expressed in the elder brother’s protest, would suggest “adequate punishment.” Nonetheless, the Pope continued, the father goes out to meet the prodigal son and shows him his love. “Pure legality is overcome by generous and unconditional parental love, which goes beyond human justice and summons both brothers to sit once more at the father’s table.”

“The merciful father of the parable both contains within himself and transcends all the attributes of paternity and maternity. … The mystery of the ‘return home’ admirably expresses the meeting between the Father and humanity, between mercy and misery, in a circle of love that does not only concern the lost son but extends to all.”

AG;FORGIVENESS SINS;…;…;VIS;19990908;Word: 280;
Published by VIS – Holy See Press Office – Wednesday, September 08, 1999

[the press release included the following notice:
Copyright © VIS – Vatican Information Service
In accordance with international regulations on Intellectual Property and Author’s Rights, VIS authorises reproduction of news items issued by the Vatican Information Service, partially or in their entirety, on condition that the source (VIS – Vatican Information Service) is quoted.]

View of St. Peter's Basilica at Vatican from River

[featured images are file photos]

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “The Road to Hell Is Paved with Indifference” – Msgr. Charles Pope/ Archdiocese of Washington

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Cross Atop Rocky Cliff

“… some people … resist, disbelieve, or even hate God … [or] engage[] in serious sins [yet] there are even more who have simply fallen into indifference and drifted away from God and the things of Heaven. … What makes this sort of rejection of God’s invitation so pernicious … Many today who live very secular lives, giving little or no thought to God, are very ‘nice’ people. … pay[ing] their taxes, lov[ing] their families … dedicat[ing] their time to … good causes. … [while] seem[ing] to have little time for God or for the things of God …. * * * Do you want what God offers or do you prefer the world … its offers rooted in the flesh or even in the devil? … a strange obtuseness to the human heart … desir[es] lesser things to greater …. carried away by passing pleasures … hat[ing] the discipline of the Cross. We must recover an urgency in our evangelization that does not presume that most will ‘make it in’ by some natural ‘goodness’ or ‘niceness.’ … Vague notions of universalism and of being pleasant, nice people cannot replace the Biblical teaching of obedience to the summons to say yes to God’s Kingdom. … we need a sober, consistent, urgent outreach to the many souls who prefer the secular to the sacred, the passing to the Eternal, what is here to what is Heavenly. Wishful thinking will not win any souls, only a sober seriousness rooted in God’s Word will do so. …”

Click here for: “The Road to Hell Is Paved with Indifference” – Msgr. Charles Pope/ Archdiocese of Washington

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CATHOLIC FAITHWATCH: “[Parable of the Unfaithful Tenants -] Pope Benedict XVI Angelus 10.2.11” – VaticanVa

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In a 2011 Angelus, Pope Benedict XVI addressed Jesus’ Parable of the Unfaithful Tenants, including the need to Bear Fruit for the Kingdom of God.  Christ is the Stone Rejected by the Builders Who Became the Cornerstone, and Bearing Fruit means doing so being Faithful to Christ:

“… a particularly severe warning from Jesus … ‘The Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it’ … These are words that call to mind the great responsibility of those in every epoch who are called to work in the Lord’s vineyard, especially in roles of authority, and they press for a renewal of full fidelity to Christ.’ … ‘the very Stone which the builders rejected’ … He Himself, rejected and crucified, is Risen, to become the ‘corner stone’ on which the foundations of every human life and of the whole world may rest in total safety.”

Pope Benedict XVI explained that the owner of the vineyard represents God Himself, with the Vineyard representing God’s People and the Life that He gives us:

“… The Owner of the Vineyard symbolizes God Himself, while the Vineyard symbolizes His People, as well as the Life He Gives, so that with His Grace and our hard work, we may do good. … God has a Project for His friends, but unfortunately the human response is often oriented to infidelity …. Pride and selfishness prevent us from recognizing and welcoming even God’s most precious gift: His Only-Begotten Son. … Firmly anchored in Faith to the Cornerstone which is Christ, let us abide in Him, like the branch that can bear no Fruit unless it remains attached to the Vine. The Church, the People of the New Covenant, is built only in Him, for Him and with Him. …'”

Click here for: “[Parable of the Unfaithful Tenants -] Pope Benedict XVI Angelus 10.2.11” – VaticanVa

 

View of St. Peter's Basilica at Vatican from River

 

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “Saint or Ain’t? A Homily for the 16th Sunday of the Year” – Archdiocese of Washington/ Msgr. Charles Pope

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Wheat Field file photo, adapted from image at usda.gov

“We live in difficult times for the Church; from many sectors the very legitimate cry for reform goes up frequently. Beyond the sexual abuse scandal there are also deep concerns regarding the uncertain trumpet of Catholic preaching, lukewarm and nominal Catholics, an overall lack of self-discipline among Catholics, and a lack of disciplining by the bishops and clergy of those Catholics (lay and clergy) who cause scandal. The list of concerns is long, and in general I have been sympathetic on this blog to the need for reform and greater zeal in the Church.The Gospel this Sunday, however, featuring the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, cautions against overzealousness in the attempt to root out sin and sinners from the Church. The Lord’s warning to the farmhands who wanted to tear out the weeds was that they might harm the wheat as well. He wants them to wait until the harvest. There will come a day of reckoning, but it is not now.

This does not mean that we are never to take notice of sin or to rebuke a sinner. There is certainly the need for discipline in the Church; other texts call for it as well. But today’s Gospel is meant to warn against a scouring that is too thorough, a puritanical clean sweep that overrules God’s patience and seeks to turn the Church from a hospital for sinners into a germ-free (and hence people-free) zone. …”

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “[‘An enemy has done this.’] Homily attributed to Saint Macarius of Egypt, Spiritual Homilies, no.51” – DailyGospel

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Cross Atop Rocky Cliff

“I am writing to you, my brothers, so you might know that, since the day when Adam was created until the end of the world, the Evil One wages war against the saints without respite (Rev 13,7)… You should know, then, beloved brethren, that in all those who have prepared their soul to provide good soil for the heavenly sowing, the enemy makes haste to sow his tares … But now, brothers, take heart and don’t be afraid of anything. Don’t allow yourselves to be frightened by the imaginations stirred up by the enemy. Don’t give in to a confused restlessness in prayer by multiplying unnecessary petitions, but receive the Lord’s grace with contrition and repentance … Take heart, be comforted, hold fast, concern yourselves with your souls, persevere in prayer with all zeal … For all those who seek God in truth will receive divine strength in their soul and, in receiving this heavenly unction, they will feel within themselves the taste and sweetness of the world to come. May the peace of the Lord, that peace which was with all the holy fathers and kept them safe from every temptation, be also with you.”

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: [“Worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word”] Soliloquies no.8 – Saint Teresa of Avila/ DailyGospel

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Christ Breaking Bread, Photograph of Painting, adapted from image at loc.gov with credit to Detroit Publishing Co.

“O Lord my God, how you possess the words of eternal life, where all mortals will find what they desire if they want to seek it! But what a strange thing, my God, that we forget your words in the madness and sickness our evil deeds cause! O my God,…, author of all creation! And what is creation if You, Lord, should desire to create more? You are almighty; Your works are incomprehensible. Bring it about, then, Lord, that my thoughts not withdraw from Your words. * * * … Have mercy, Creator, on these Your creatures. Behold, we don’t understand or know what we desire, nor do we obtain what we ask for. Lord, give us light * * * …. Let Your mercy shine upon evil that has so increased; behold, Lord, we are Your handiwork. May Your goodness and mercy help us.”

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “[Parable of the Seed and the Sower] Benedict XVI Angelus” 7.10.11

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“… In this Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 13:1-23), Jesus recounts to the crowd the well-known Parable of the Sower. In a certain way it is an “autobiographical” passage, for it reflects the very experience of Jesus, of his preaching. He identifies himself with the sower who scatters the good seed of the Word of God and notes the different effects it obtains, in accordance with the way in which people hear the proclamation.

Some listen superficially to the Word but do not take it in; others accept it at the time but are unable to persevere and lose it all; there are those who are engrossed by worldly concerns and enticements; and those who listen receptively, like the good soil: here the word bears an abundance of fruit.

However this Gospel also puts the accent on Jesus’ preaching “method”, that is, on his use of parables. …

Basically, God’s true “Parable” is Jesus himself, his Person who, in the sign of humanity, hides and at the same time reveals his divinity. In this manner God does not force us to believe in him but attracts us to him with the truth and goodness of his incarnate Son: love, in fact, always respects freedom.
Dear friends, tomorrow we shall be celebrating the Feast of St Benedict, Abbot and Patron of Europe. In the light of this Gospel reading let us look to him as to a master of listening to the Word of God, a profound and persevering listening. We must always learn from the great Patriarch of Western monasticism to give God his proper place, the first place, offering him in morning and evening prayer our daily work.

May the Virgin Mary help us, through her example, to be “good soil” where the seed of the Word may bear fruit in abundance.”

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “Homily of John Paul II [including the Parable of the Seed and the Sower], 12th World Youth Day, Mass for the Youth Forum” 8.23.97

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Saint Pope John Paul II file photo, adapted from image at archives.gov

“… [we] think back to the parable of the sower. We know the parable, but we can re-read the words of the Gospel over and over again and still find new light. So the sower comes out to sow. As he sows, some seeds fall on the path, some on rocky ground, some among thorns, some finally on good soil, and only these last gave fruit (cf. Mt 13:3-8).

Jesus did not limit himself to presenting us with a parable, he explained it. Let us hear then the explanation of the parable of the sower. The seeds that fell on the path represent those who hear the word of the Kingdom of God but do not understand it. The Evil One comes and takes away what has been sown in their hearts (cf. Mt 13:19). The Evil One often uses this tactic and he tries to prevent the seed from germinating in people’s hearts. This is the first comparison. The second is the seed fallen on rocky ground. This ground represents the people who hear the word and welcome it immediately with joy, but they do not have roots in them and are inconstant. When tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they fall away immediately (cf. Mt 13:20-21). What psychological insight in this comparison made by Christ! We know well from our experience and the experience of others the inconstancy of people deprived of the roots which would enable the word to grow! The third case is the seed fallen among thorns. Christ explains that he is thinking of those who hear the word but who, because of the worries of the world and their attachment to riches, stifle the word so that it does not bear fruit (cf. Mt 13:22).

Finally, the seed fallen on fertile ground represents those who hear the word and understand it, and the word bears fruit in them (cf. Mt 13:23). All of this magnificent parable speaks to us today as it spoke to the listeners of Jesus two thousand years ago. In the course of this world meeting of youth, let us become the fertile ground which receives the Gospel and bears fruit!

4. Bearing in mind that the human soul hesitates to welcome the word of God, let us address the Spirit with this ardent liturgical prayer:

Veni Creator Spiritus
Mentes tuorum visitas,
Imple superna gratia,
Quae tu creasti pectora.
Come, O Creator Spirit,
Visit the souls of those who belong to you;
Fill with your grace from on high
The hearts which you have made.

In this prayer we open our hearts, imploring the Spirit to fill them with light and life.
Spirit of God, make us ready to receive your visit. Make faith in the word which saves grow in us. Be the living source of the hope which blossoms in our lives. Be in us the breath of love which transforms us, and the fire of charity which impels us to give ourselves to the service of our brothers and sisters. …”

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “My Word Shall Not Return to Me Empty – A Homily for the 15th Sunday of the Year” – Archdiocese of Washington, Msgr. Charles Pope

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Artistic Drawing of Jesus Preaching in Sermon on the Mount

“… The readings for this Sunday clearly set forth that God’s Word can transform, renew, encourage, and empower us. We ought to begin to begin to expect great things from the faithful and attentive reception of the Word of God. However, Jesus also spells out some obstacles that keep the harvest small or even nonexistent for some. …”

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