Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 103

The disciples approached him and said, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"
He said to them in reply, "Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.

Twice we hear from the Prophet Isaiah today: the first reading is taken from his 55th chapter; and Jesus quotes the 6th chapter in today's Gospel. To understand Isaiah as Jesus did is to know the mystery revealed to prophets; it is to remember the "former things" of our sins and God's mercy; and to expect the future of God's promise. Isaiah and Jesus teach us not to think as humans think but as the Lord does. 

Unlike other nations, the Old Testament Jews included in their histories their ancestors’ sin, defeat, and humiliation. They also remembered that their victories, conquests, and triumphs were not their own; they belonged to God who drove back their enemies, and brought them into the Land of Milk and Honey where they prospered. 

Especially in Isaiah's telling, we have seen God's mighty works; we were delivered from many troubles; but we learned nothing from the experience. We still do not trust the LORD who saves us. We remain in our sin.. 

However, Isaiah promises a  future unlike the past; it is bright as the LORD renews his promise of deliverance. The former things have passed away; see I make all things new. We have only to listen, believe, and watch. God gave his word to Abraham and his descendants and will remain our savior, patron, and Lord for all eternity. He will love us always and through his love we shall become holy like the LORD. We too will show compassion to the helpless, the despised, the lost and bewildered. 

This goodness which we demonstrate is the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven which are granted to us, but not to everyone. We must tell our children the stories of God’s goodness to us, even as we show God’s goodness to other people. For, if our children do not know our history,, or if they foolishly forget it, they will not wait on the Lord through their own troubles. They will become like everyone else; conforming, being no different, and making no difference. Salt without savor is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot.  

If our children forget our God they will not be holy until they discover that God remains with them -- as he promised to our Father Abraham. This is the mystery, as Saint Paul said, 

...which was not made known to human beings in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. Ephesians 3:5

Catholics in the United States suffer with our neighbors the same threats of drug abuse, violence, and mass shootings. We live under the same miasma of depression, infidelity, and pornography. We are punished like everyone else for the sins of divorce, abortion, and racism. 

But we are here for a purpose. We must invite our children, our neighbors, and our opponents to trust in the Lord who saves us, for we remember the saints and martyrs who kept the faith through times worse than ours. The Church remembers that the post-war 1950's and sixties were not the good old days for African-, Native-, Asian-, and disabled-Americans. 

In Louisiana, Black Catholics remember when their children made their first communions – after the white children made theirs, and after the white adults had recieved the Eucharist. I asked a woman, “Why did you stay?” She said, “We believed in the Blessed Sacrament and wanted to receive the Lord. We knew the Pope didn’t teach that attitude."

In southern Indiana and Kentucky we  know that many of our Catholic ancestors were racists. But if our past is rife with sin, our future is glorious. For God's promise remains,, 

Just as from the heavens

the rain and snow come down

and do not return there

till they have watered the earth,

making it fertile and fruitful,

giving seed to the one who sows

and bread to the one who eats,

so shall my word be

that goes forth from my mouth;

my word shall not return to me void,

but shall do my will,

achieving the end for which I sent it.