Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs

“The Korean Martyrs” Artist and Date are Unknown

Alternate proper for the Memorial of Sts. Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Paul Chŏng Ha-sang

Readings for Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading 1: 1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-49

Brothers and sisters:

Someone may say, “How are the dead raised?

With what kind of body will they come back?”

You fool!

What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that is to be

but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.

So also is the resurrection of the dead.

It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.

It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.

It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

So, too, it is written,

“The first man, Adam, became a living being,”

the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

But the spiritual was not first;

rather the natural and then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, earthly;

the second man, from heaven.

As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,

and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.

Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,

we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commentary on 1 Cor 15:35-37, 42-49

St. Paul anticipates an argument that might be posed by those who do not believe in the resurrection.  He uses two analogies to describe what kind of form or essence will be assumed.  The first analogy if the seed that must be planted in the ground in order to grow into “new life” The second analogy is that of the creation of the first earthly being Adam and comparing that physical form to the first born of the dead in Christ who had both earthly form and became the “New Adam” in the resurrection.

St. Paul is eloquent in describing the difference from the earthly form and the resurrected body.  Where the earthly form may be flawed, the spiritual body in the resurrection will be perfect.  St. Paul envisions a resurrected body with the qualities of glory, power, and spirituality which is a creation in God’s heavenly image.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 56:10c-12, 13-14

R. (14) I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

Now I know that God is with me.

In God, in whose promise I glory,

in God I trust without fear;

what can flesh do against me?

R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

I am bound, O God, by vows to you;

your thank offerings I will fulfill.

For you have rescued me from death,

my feet, too, from stumbling;

that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commentary on Ps 56:10c-12, 13-14

Psalm 56 is an individual lament.  The psalmist expresses unbounded faith in God who will protect and lift up his faithful.  The signer’s own fidelity wins salvation from God who rescues him from death.  Placed against St. Paul’s description of the resurrected body, these strophes reflect the salvation of that resurrection as the faithful walk with God.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gospel: Luke 8:4-15

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another

journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.

“A sower went out to sow his seed.

And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,

and the birds of the sky ate it up.

Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,

it withered for lack of moisture.

Some seed fell among thorns,

and the thorns grew with it and choked it.

And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,

it produced fruit a hundredfold.”

After saying this, he called out,

“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

Then his disciples asked him

what the meaning of this parable might be.

He answered,

“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God

has been granted to you;

but to the rest, they are made known through parables

so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.

“This is the meaning of the parable.

The seed is the word of God.

Those on the path are the ones who have heard,

but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts

that they may not believe and be saved.

Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,

receive the word with joy, but they have no root;

they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.

As for the seed that fell among thorns,

they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,

they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,

and they fail to produce mature fruit.

But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,

they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,

embrace it with a generous and good heart,

and bear fruit through perseverance.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commentary on Lk 8:4-15

Jesus uses the rich analogy of the seed (of faith given in Baptism) to show the various courses of faith in human endeavor. Because our selection gives not only the parable but the Lord’s explanation of its meaning the only historical not we will make is that, at that point in history in that region, when planting a field, the seed was sown first and then the field was plowed. (See more extensive commentary on Matthew 13:1-23)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reflection:

From time to time even the most secular person pauses to wonder “What will my legacy be when I am gone? Who will remember me and what will they remember?” As we consider the Parable of the Sower we can speculate that these questions may have been considered by Jesus as well. Being truly man, that is, not thinking about his situation as if he were God, eternal and omnipresent, he would feel a sense of frustration. He brought the words of life to God’s adopted children, each of whom is precious to his loving Father. Yet he could see with his own eyes only a tiny fraction were hearing what he was saying and accepting the great gift that was being offered.

Jesus explains this frustration to his disciples after he tells the parable to his larger entourage. What he speaks of, even to this small group, is his legacy and posterity. Each of the twelve will play some part in what he leaves behind. Even Judas who betrays him has an important role to play. These Apostles sowed the early seeds of faith, seeds that at various times and circumstances have been choked by weeds of dissension, parched by scandal, and fallen onto the rocks of persecution. Still the grain blooms and new generations of seed are grown, themselves to fall to the earth.

Through this process we were brought into the faith; frequently by our parents but possibly by others; each generation laying the groundwork for the following. We must, when reading the parable of the sower, look at ourselves and ask; what will we provide for those who follow us – the new seeds? Will we advance Christ’s cause through our actions, demonstrating the kind of fruit we are or will we rot on the vine or lay on fallow ground? At various times in our lives most of us could see ourselves failing and at others exceeding beyond all hope.

Today we again take stock of our location and ask if we are in fertile soil or do we need to dig deeper. Always the answer will be -dig deeper, because our Lord, who first fell to the ground dying and rising to new life, showed us what wholesome grain must be. So today we dig deeper, praying that the fruit we bear will give rise to a glorious future for those who follow and a birth to new life for us, on the last day.

 

Pax

---

[1] ALTRE

[2] The picture used today is “The Korean Martyrs” Artist and Date are Unknown

[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL).  This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.