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Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.
1 Cor 15:42-49
Paul again is explaining the resurrection of Jesus’s body and our bodies at the Second Coming. He says Adam was created and God breathed a Spirit into him thus having a soul and a body. He further explains that Jesus was a Divine Spirit and became Man. We were born in the image of Adam, the earthly one, and we also bear the image of Jesus, the heavenly one. Thus, since Jesus had a body and a Spirit, and His body and soul resurrected, ours will do the same. We are buried with Jesus’s death and we are raised to new life in the resurrection.
In the Gospel, Jesus explains the parable of the Sower of the Seed to the Apostles,
“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.”
We must take the seed (God’s Word), listen and hear it, embrace it, “with a generous and good heart”, and persevere in prayer, compassion, and living the Word. As Catholics we often do not read the Scriptures apart from Mass. This is one of the most dangerous mistakes we can make. If God gave us a roadmap to heaven, why would we not use it. Then He gives us pit stops along the journey in the Sacraments that we must actively participate in as often as possible, especially confession and the Eucharist. The food for the soul that keeps us on the straight and narrow path to heaven.
Last, today’s feast day is St. Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs. St. Andrew is the first native born Korean priest and the first priest to die for the faith in Korea with his companions. He was baptized at age 15 and traveled 1,300 miles to the nearest seminary in China to become a priest. His father was martyred and St. Andrew was tortured and beheaded in Korea on Sept. 16th, 1846.
I want you to take some time today to pray for any person that is being persecuted for their faith, especially Christians in Iraq.
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