FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

The Holy Will of God

God is the Generator of all that exists. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Everything comes forth from his Word and completes in his Word. He is the seed and He is the fruit. He feeds and sustains all with his Word; He plants and He sows. And his Word is his Will: nothing can happen without Him. Verily, He is the Doer! God tells us today in Isaiah (55:10-11) that He will achieve his purpose. What a beautiful vision of God, here and in Psalm 65, which follows!

In our reading from Romans, Paul explains that original sin has corrupted everything and put us all into bondage; yet the entire creation, including us, is straining towards God's Will in the hope and promise of freedom. God is good; none of this has been for nothing. He has given us a Way forward, and his end (from the beginning!) shall be achieved. I dare say it will culminate in his Glory! Those who have ears, let them hear, and eyes, let them see! The Glory of the Lord is upon us.

In our Gospel passage, we read that people came en masse to hear Jesus, the Word of God, and many found seeds of faith. As Jesus tells them in his parable and later explains to his disciples, some did not value or protect those seeds, and the seeds were stolen away. Others received the seed with initial joy and astonishment but couldn't bear the trials and hardships found along the Way. Others lost their seed due to their attachment to the things of the world and/or to sin. But others, cherishing that seed, straining to hear the Will of God, loving and serving their brothers and sisters, sacrificing all for his Glory, they will bear fruit, "a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."

In the end, all of this is the Holy Will of God who calls us, like a magnet, to repent and return to Him, to honor his Word, to glorify his Works, and to return his Infinite Love in imitation and union with Jesus Christ. Let us cherish our seeds of faith, our tender seedlings, seek his Holy Will always in both our joy and our suffering, and grow in our faith and works for his Name's Sake. As we pray, "Thy Will, not mine be done," and "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." Amen!

–Laura Tattoo

Send Us Forth are reflections written by St. Matthew parishioners and friends.