The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Feast of Saint Sharbel Makhlūf, Priest, challenge us to ponder the soil that we seek to prepare through our relationship with the Sower, that will produce a yield of love, hope, and faith in our environment.
The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah proclaims a remnant of Israel will reunite with Judah.
* [3:14–18] A remnant of Israel (v. 14) will reunite with Judah (v. 18). The former Israelite community, represented by the ark of the covenant, will be replaced by a universal alliance, symbolized by Jerusalem, the Lord’s throne, to which all nations will be gathered (v. 17). (Jeremiah, CHAPTER 31 | USCCB, n.d.) (Jeremiah, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)
The response from Jeremiah Chapter 31 is a presentation of the people’s return from captivity
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower.
* [13:18–23] See Mk 4:14–20; Lk 8:11–15. In this explanation of the parable the emphasis is on the various types of soil on which the seed falls, i.e., on the dispositions with which the preaching of Jesus is received. The second and third types particularly are explained in such a way as to support the view held by many scholars that the explanation derives not from Jesus but from early Christian reflection upon apostasy from the faith that was the consequence of persecution and worldliness, respectively. Others, however, hold that the explanation may come basically from Jesus even though it was developed in the light of later Christian experience. The four types of persons envisaged are (1) those who never accept the word of the kingdom (Mt 13:19); (2) those who believe for a while but fall away because of persecution (Mt 13:20–21); (3) those who believe, but in whom the word is choked by worldly anxiety and the seduction of riches (Mt 13:22); (4) those who respond to the word and produce fruit abundantly (Mt 13:23). (Matthew, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB, n.d.)
Rev. George Meze, SJ, comments that St. Ignatius teaches that the purpose of life is “to praise, revere, and serve God.”
I have often wondered what it truly means to praise God and to be at His service…
Is not the purpose of our lives to become what God desires us to be? To love as Jesus loved; to forgive as He forgives; to take up our crosses and overcome them as He conquered suffering on Calvary; to have hope and to share that hope with others, just as He did with the blind, the sick, and those in despair.
God has given us life as a seed meant to grow in Him. He is the good soil, continually inviting us to remain rooted in His love. Perhaps it is in striving to love as Jesus loved that we plant ourselves in him, the good soil. (Meze, 2026)
Don Schwager quotes “God's word is like good seed sown in the heart,” by Jerome (347-420 AD)
"'And the one sown upon good ground is he who hears the word, understands it and bears fruit.' Even as on bad ground there were three diverse situations (by the path, upon rocky ground and among thorns), so too on good ground the diversity is of three types: fruit of one hundredfold, sixtyfold and thirtyfold. Both in one and the other there is a change that takes place in the will, not in the nature itself. In both the unbelievers and believers it is the heart that receives the seed. 'The wicked one comes,' he says, 'and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.' In the second and third cases, he says, 'That is he who hears the word.' In the explanation of the good ground, he is the one who hears the word. First we must listen, then understand; after understanding, we must bear the fruits of good teaching and yield fruit either one hundredfold, sixtyfold or thirtyfold." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.13.23) (Schwager, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler reflects that Jeremiah speaks about how God will bring one from here, two from there, as a remnant that will form a faithful people and will not search out the Ark of the Covenant that was worshipped as a superstitious totem. The day will come when all of Jerusalem is a sacred people. Jesus presents the sower and the path, as a parable that explains the Great Commandment. Those who don’t love God with the mind are like the path when they don’t try to fully understand. The rocky ground are those who do not love with their soul and in times of persecution, fall away. A martyrdom of pin pricks may fall on those who don’t love with the strength which is their physical possessions. Friar Jude notes those who are prepared and self examined will produce greatly when the seed is planted.
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 13:18-23 comments that Jesus tells his disciples that the seed is his word that he sows into the heart of each person. The different types of soil represent some typical responses that people can have to his word. So his parable can inspire us to examine how prepared we are to receive and understand what Jesus says to us, and to ask how we can improve the quality of our “soil.”
Even when you feel like rocky soil, you can trust Jesus, the Sower who won’t stop sowing. Even when you worry about the loved ones you’re praying for, know that Jesus never gets tired of scattering seed. He will not give up—he will keep spreading the seed until it finds its proper soil.
“Thank you, Jesus, for your relentless love that never stops reaching out to me!” (Meditation on Matthew 13:18-23, n.d.)
Father Richard Rohr, OFM, presents publisher and author Robert Ellsberg who introduces Sister Thea Bowman (1937–1990). As a Franciscan Sister, she managed to integrate the resources of her Catholic faith with her identity as an African American woman.
When you come into my community, my town, my world, will you see God’s glory revealed? When you go to my brothers and sisters, in beautiful Hawaii, will you see his glory? When you experience, when you share the hungers of Ethiopia, the blood flow of Guatemala and Nicaragua, will you see his glory revealed?…
If you believe that you, like Jesus, are called by the spirit to share the spirit in the world to call forth the giftedness of God’s people, say Amen. If you believe that God is able to work in all the brothers and the sisters, in the ones you customarily write off because they don’t read right, they don’t write right, they drink too much, they smoke the wrong thing, they don’t walk right, they don’t talk right, their sexual preferences are not in agreement with the ones you claim. If you believe that God is able to transform the water of my reality into purest wine, if you believe there’s nothing God can’t do, let me hear you say Amen. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)
We invoke the Spirit to guide our preparation of the good soil for our reception to learn, persevere, and use our strength to work with Jesus to bring in a harvest of fullness of life.
References
Jeremiah, CHAPTER 31 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 24, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/31
Jeremiah, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 24, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/3?14
Matthew, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 24, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13?
Meditation on Matthew 13:18-23. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved June 24, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/07/23/1629640/
Meze, G. (2026, July 24). Daily Reflection July 24, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved July 24, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-july-24-2026
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Thea Bowman: Champion of Black Catholic Identity. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved July 24, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/thea-bowman-champion-of-black-catholic-identity/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Whoever Hears the Word and Understands It. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 24, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
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