Parables People and Purpose

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to examine the distractions that lead us away from the fullness of life that our relationship with Christ sustains.

Full Life Beyond Distractions

The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah portrays Israel as the wife of the Lord.

* [2:1–3:5] These chapters may contain some of Jeremiah’s early preaching. He portrays Israel as the wife of the Lord, faithful only in the beginning, when she walked behind him (2:2–3, 5; 3:1). Consistent with the marriage metaphor, he describes her present unfaithfulness as adultery (2:20; 3:2–3); now she walks behind the Baals.

* [2:2] Devotion: Heb. hesed; Israel’s gratitude, fidelity, and love for God.

* [2:3] First fruits: the first yield of a harvest offered as a sign of dependence on and gratitude toward the Lord of the land, thus divine property. Israel, then, is a gift made to God, set apart for his use; cf. Ex 23:19.

* [2:8] Experts in the law: the priests. The shepherds: the kings and nobles. (Jeremiah, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 36 proclaims the rule of divine love and mercy over God’s friends,

* [Psalm 36] A Psalm with elements of wisdom (Ps 36:2–5), the hymn (Ps 36:6–10), and the lament (Ps 36:11–13). The rule of sin over the wicked (Ps 36:2–5) is contrasted with the rule of divine love and mercy over God’s friends (Ps 36:6–10). The Psalm ends with a prayer that God’s guidance never cease (Ps 36:11–12). (Psalms, PSALM 36 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus proclaims the Purpose of Parables and the Privilege of Discipleship.

* [13:1–53] The discourse in parables is the third great discourse of Jesus in Matthew and constitutes the second part of the third book of the gospel. Matthew follows the Marcan outline (Mk 4:1–35) but has only two of Mark’s parables, the five others being from Q and M. In addition to the seven parables, the discourse gives the reason why Jesus uses this type of speech (Mt 13:10–15), declares the blessedness of those who understand his teaching (Mt 13:16–17), explains the parable of the sower (Mt 13:18–23) and of the weeds (Mt 13:36–43), and ends with a concluding statement to the disciples (Mt 13:51–52).

* [13:11] Since a parable is figurative speech that demands reflection for understanding, only those who are prepared to explore its meaning can come to know it. To understand is a gift of God, granted to the disciples but not to the crowds. In Semitic fashion, both the disciples’ understanding and the crowd’s obtuseness are attributed to God. The question of human responsibility for the obtuseness is not dealt with, although it is asserted in Mt 13:13. The mysteries: as in Lk 8:10; Mk 4:11 has “the mystery.” The word is used in Dn 2:18, 19, 27 and in the Qumran literature (1QpHab 7:8; 1QS 3:23; 1QM 3:9) to designate a divine plan or decree affecting the course of history that can be known only when revealed. Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven means recognition that the kingdom has become present in the ministry of Jesus.

* [13:12] In the New Testament use of this axiom of practical “wisdom” (see Mt 25:29; Mk 4:25; Lk 8:18; 19:26), the reference transcends the original level. God gives further understanding to one who accepts the revealed mystery; from the one who does not, he will take it away (note the “theological passive,” more will be given, what he has will be taken away).

* [13:13] Because ‘they look…or understand’: Matthew softens his Marcan source, which states that Jesus speaks in parables so that the crowds may not understand (Mk 4:12), and makes such speaking a punishment given because they have not accepted his previous clear teaching. However, his citation of Is 6:9–10 in Mt 13:14 supports the harsher Marcan view.

* [13:16–17] Unlike the unbelieving crowds, the disciples have seen that which the prophets and the righteous of the Old Testament longed to see without having their longing fulfilled. (Matthew, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB, n.d.)

Kimberly Grassmeyer comments that Jesus admits that he speaks in Parables to the people, as they are unable to “see or hear” the mysteries that the disciples have absorbed.  Much of the passage relies on Isaiah’s prophesy that the people can look but not truly see, and hear but not truly understand, and as such  have “gross” hearts.

Reading that passage, I wonder if anyone else shares my suspicion that I fall into this group?  There is so much that I don’t truly comprehend from Christ’s teaching, so much of God’s word that is difficult to absorb.  Am I the person who doesn’t truly see, understand, and love God with my whole heart?  Am I among those who will have everything taken away?  Jesus told the disciples that many prophets and faithful people had fallen short in their attempts to do so - who am I to hope that I’m better than they?

Ahhh, but I’m a New Testament Christian, eager to believe in God’s Grace.  So I’ll cling to the closing phrase from Isaiah’s prophesy:

“lest they see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts and be converted

and I heal them.”

My prayer today is to ask that God continue, always, to open wide my heart, my eyes, and my ears, that I may be truly converted and healed.  That I may one day know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.  And as importantly for this Christian, that I would live them out in my daily life on earth, sharing light and love with all people.  Amen. (Grassmeyer, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “Ears that refuse to hear,” by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD).

"Faith perceives the mysteries of the kingdom. A person will make progress in those things he has been immersed in and will abound with an increase in that progress. But in those things he has not been immersed in, even that which he has shall be taken away from him. In other words, he suffers the loss of the law from the loss of his faith. Lacking faith, the people of the law lost even the efficacy of the law. Therefore, gospel faith receives a perfect gift, because it enriches with new fruit those things that have been undertaken. But once it is rejected, even the help of one's former means of support is taken away. (excerpt from a commentary ON MATTHEW 13.2) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler reflects on Jeremiah who speaks about the Lord bringing the people from the desert and then they abandoned the Lord by being self-sufficient no longer dependent on the Lord for water and food. The Lord enacts a lawsuit to show the things they have chosen are not life giving. We choose food, acceptance, and these become central to our self satisfaction but Christ’s Love is the only Way to satisfy the deepest desires of our heart. Friar Jude notes Jesus quotes Isaiah today, typical in Matthew’s Gospel, written for a Jewish audience, to underline if the people reject his message in the simplest form they have rejected Him because they refuse to see. Jesus praises those who have opened eyes and ears to see and understand.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 13:10-17 comments that we can read this passage only as a condemnation of those whose hearts have become “gross,” but that would be too limiting. There is also an invitation here. 

So listen closely and look carefully when you are praying and reading Scripture. Welcome Jesus into your heart and ask him to let you sense his presence with you personally. Don’t let guilt or sin or boredom get in the way. Slow down and take your time; don’t rush through your prayer. Tell yourself that the words you are reading can speak to you and your situation. And trust that the God who loves you wants to speak to you!

“Lord, open my eyes and my ears to you!” (Meditation on Matthew 13:10-17, n.d.)

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, has long drawn comfort and wisdom from the writings of the young Jewish woman Etty Hillesum (1914–1943), believing her to be someone whose contemplative practice and mystical experience led to greater compassion and action in a hurting world. Shortly before her departure for internment at the Westerbork transit camp, Hillesum wrote in her journal. Hillesum fully accepted the brokenness of reality and chose to love ever more consciously.

Something has crystallised. I have looked our destruction, our miserable end which has already begun in so many small ways in our daily life, straight in the eye and accepted it into my life, and my love of life has not been diminished. I am not bitter or rebellious, or in any way discouraged. I continue to grow from day to day, even with the likelihood of destruction staring me in the face. I shall no longer flirt with words, for words merely evoke misunderstandings: I have come to terms with life.…

By “coming to terms with life” I mean: the reality of death has become a definite part of my life; my life has, so to speak, been extended by death, by my looking death in the eye and accepting it, by accepting destruction as part of life and no longer wasting my energies on fear of death or the refusal to acknowledge its inevitability. It sounds paradoxical: by excluding death from our life we cannot live a full life, and by admitting death into our life we enlarge and enrich [life]. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

We implore the Spirit to reveal if our development of a sophisticated understanding and practice of our Christian faith is to serve our desire for moral and intellectual justification of our self aggrandizement rather than the faith, hope and love of Jesus Way. 

References

Grassmeyer, K. (2026, July 23). Daily Reflection July 23, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved July 23, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-july-23-2026 

Jeremiah, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 23, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/2? 

Matthew, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 23, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13? 

Meditation on Matthew 13:10-17. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved July 23, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/07/23/1629640/ 

Psalms, PSALM 36 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 23, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/36? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Etty Hillesum: A Commitment to Life. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved July 23, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/etty-hillesum-a-commitment-to-life/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Many Longed to Hear What You Hear. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 23, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Judgement and Guides

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to give thanks for our relationship with Christ and reflection on the distractions and self instruction that may be leading us away from His Guidance.

Impact on Judgement

The reading from Second Thessalonians expresses Thanksgiving and alludes to the Judgement at Christ’s Coming.

* [1:1–2] On the address, see note on Rom 1:1–7 and cf. 1 Thes 1:1.

* [1:3–12] On the thanksgiving, see note on Rom 1:8 and cf. 1 Thes 1:2–10. Paul’s gratitude to God for the faith and love of the Thessalonians (2 Thes 1:3) and his Christian pride in their faithful endurance (2 Thes 1:4–5) contrast with the condemnation announced for those who afflict them, a judgment to be carried out at the parousia (2 Thes 1:6–10), which is described in vivid language drawn from Old Testament apocalyptic. A prayer for the fulfillment of God’s purpose in the Thessalonians (2 Thes 1:11–12) completes the section, as is customary in a Pauline letter (cf. 1 Thes 1:2–3).

* [1:10] Among his holy ones: in the Old Testament, this term can refer to an angelic throng (cf. also Jude 14), but here, in parallel with among all who have believed, it can refer to the triumphant people of God.

* [1:12] The grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ: the Greek can also be translated, “the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 96 offers praise to God Who Comes in Judgement.

* [Psalm 96] A hymn inviting all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God (Ps 96:1–3), who is the sole God (Ps 96:4–6). To the just ruler of all belongs worship (Ps 96:7–10); even inanimate creation is to offer praise (Ps 96:11–13). This Psalm has numerous verbal and thematic contacts with Is 40–55, as does Ps 98. Another version of the Psalm is 1 Chr 16:23–33. (Psalms, PSALM 96 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus calls out the Blind Guides

* [23:13–36] This series of seven “woes,” directed against the scribes and Pharisees and addressed to them, is the heart of the speech. The phrase woe to occurs often in the prophetic and apocalyptic literature, expressing horror of a sin and punishment for those who commit it. Hypocrites: see note on Mt 6:2. The hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees consists in the difference between their speech and action (Mt 23:3) and in demonstrations of piety that have no other purpose than to enhance their reputation as religious persons (Mt 23:5).

* [23:13] You lock the kingdom of heaven: cf. Mt 16:19 where Jesus tells Peter that he will give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven. The purpose of the authority expressed by that metaphor is to give entrance into the kingdom (the kingdom is closed only to those who reject the authority); here the charge is made that the authority of the scribes and Pharisees is exercised in such a way as to be an obstacle to entrance. Cf. Lk 11:52 where the accusation against the “scholars of the law” (Matthew’s scribes) is that they “have taken away the key of knowledge.”

* [23:14] Some manuscripts add a verse here or after Mt 23:12, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. Because of this, you will receive a very severe condemnation.” Cf. Mk 12:40; Lk 20:47. This “woe” is almost identical with Mk 12:40 and seems to be an interpolation derived from that text.

* [23:15] In the first century A.D. until the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (A.D. 66–70), many Pharisees conducted a vigorous missionary campaign among Gentiles. Convert: literally, “proselyte,” a Gentile who accepted Judaism fully by submitting to circumcision and all other requirements of Mosaic law. Child of Gehenna: worthy of everlasting punishment; for Gehenna, see note on Mt 5:22. Twice as much as yourselves: possibly this refers simply to the zeal of the convert, surpassing that of the one who converted him.

* [23:16–22] An attack on the casuistry that declared some oaths binding (one is obligated) and others not (it means nothing) and held the binding oath to be the one made by something of lesser value (the gold; the gift on the altar). Such teaching, which inverts the order of values, reveals the teachers to be blind guides; cf. Mt 15:14. Since the Matthean Jesus forbids all oaths to his disciples (Mt 5:33–37), this woe does not set up a standard for Christian moral conduct, but ridicules the Pharisees on their own terms. (Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB, n.d.)

Michael Kavan asks himself – Like the scribes and Pharisees, “have I set up impediments in my life that keep me from accepting Jesus as the Christ and from entering the Kingdom of heaven?”

Is it arrogancy, hypocrisy, showmanship, or flat out not abiding by my sacramental oath to love God and to do so with all my heart. I pray that through humility and reflection that I may better understand my faults and better prepare to honor God in the manner that Jesus taught us. (Kavan, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Shutting the Kingdom of Heaven,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)

"There are those who dare to say that God is not good because of the curses in his law that he places against their sin. And yet the one who is truly the Son of God who gave that same law is also the same one who put blessings into the law. The same God who provides blessings for those who are saved in a similar way applies curses which he placed in the law against sinners. 'Woe,' he says. Woe to you and to those hearing these things who plead the God of the law and yet do not understand that these words were spoken by God in a kindly way. So we understand why Jesus said, 'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees.' They believe that it is in fact a good thing to pronounce these curses against sinners. They consider the arrangement of the law's curses to be a part of God's design. The chiding father frequently urges his advice on his son for his improvement - advice that may seem to be a curse. He does not wish the curses to be actualized, however, but rather he desires to avert him from even more such curses." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 23:13-22 comments that one way we can “lock” ourselves out of God’s kingdom is to get so caught up in worldly pleasures and concerns that this world becomes the kingdom we inhabit most of the time. That could lead us to neglect our daily time with the Lord or even to skip Mass at times. As a result, we end up missing the opportunity to receive the mercy, grace, and nourishment that we need to live as citizens of heaven.

Many of the Pharisees and scribes missed out on the invitation that Jesus was offering them to enter into the new kingdom he was inaugurating. But you don’t have to. Every day you face the choice of whether you will embrace God’s kingdom and its values. Let’s make sure we “unlock” any doors of our hearts that we may have closed and say yes to the Lord!

“Lord, I want to live in your heavenly kingdom, now and forever.” (Meditation on Matthew 23:13-22, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the thoughts on the end of the world in 2 Thessalonians suggest an author other than Paul. The theme that the Church is doing very well underlines our responsibility to see the good in each other and praise them for it. Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus' condemnation of the Pharisees is based on the legalism and scrupulosity in their interpretations of the Law.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes his own life’s journey from Order, through Disorder, to Reorder. He describes his experience of Reorder.

As time passed, I became simultaneously very traditional and very progressive, and I have probably continued to be so to this day. I found a much larger and even happier garden (note the new garden described at the end of the Bible in Revelation 22:1–2). I fully believe in Adam and Eve now, but on about ten more levels. (Literalism is usually the lowest and least level of meaning.) I no longer fit in with either staunch liberals or strict conservatives. This was my first strong introduction to paradox, and it honed my ability to hold two seemingly opposite positions at the same time. It took most of midlife to figure out what had happened—and how and why it had to happen. (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the guidance of the Spirit to illuminate for us the attitudes and practices in our lives that are driven by our desires and rules rather than the Way that Jesus invites us to follow.

References

Kavan, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. OnlineMinistries. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/082624.html 

Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/23?13 

Meditation on Matthew 23:13-22. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/08/26/1060846/ 

Psalms, PSALM 96 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/96?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/growing-in-faith/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=aug26 

2 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2thessalonians/1?