Wednesday 21 July 2021

Today is Wednesday the 21 July, in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time.

The choir of Portsmouth Cathedral sing Psalm 42 – Like as the Hart desireth the waterbrooks, so longeth my soul after thee, O God.

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 13:1-9  

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’

This is a parable that is heard time and time again, but when Jesus first told this story it wasn’t quite as straight forward as it may now seem to us.  A farmer who wants to get the best yield from his harvest would only use the most fertile soil wouldn’t he..? But this isn’t what God does, God’s seed is given out for all and it is up to us to nourish it. How deeply do you or can you let the word of God root itself in your life?

Are there perhaps ways you can help others to do the same?

Listen to the reading again.  As you hear the words of Jesus, notice if you realise something about your life right now.

What would you like to say to God now...? Be as open and honest as you can.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.