An Aristotelian Gospel?
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Is 55:10-11; Ps 64:10-14; Rom 8:18-23; Mt 13:1-23
Those who followed some studies in philosophy cannot help but recall Aristotelian philosophy when they read the Gospel text which the Church proclaims on this 15th Sunday in ordinary time. Aristotle remains a gigantic figure in the history of philosophy and also proved to be very influential in theological studies, especially since the Middle Ages when his works were, so to say, baptized into Christianity by the great Dominican theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Aristotle was a marine biologist and an exceptionally keen observer of nature. He observed that things in the world had an inbuilt tendency to actualize their potentialities in order to reach their ultimate goal or end. He also noted that whether they failed or succeeded in achieving their goal depended on whether or not they found the right conditions. For instance, if an acorn is provided with the right conditions (i.e. fertile soil, sunlight, water, manure, etc.), it gradually grows and eventually develops into a fully-fledged oak tree.
The same thing can be said about the Word of God. As we find in the first reading from Isaiah, just as “rain and snow come down from heaven … and soak the earth and water it” causing it to bear fruit in due time, so God’s Word shall not return to Him empty but shall do whatever pleases Him and shall prosper in the things for which He sent it (Is 55:10-11). However, like the aforementioned acorn, the Word of God can only bear fruit in us if it finds the right conditions i.e. an open mind and a pure well-disposed heart.
Indeed, if our heart is like an exposed way side carelessly prone to intruders (i.e. though hearing the Word of God, it does not understand or believe it), if it resembles “stony ground with not much earth” (i.e. it is unprepared for turbulence and persecution because of the Word), if it is like a piece of land shrouded with thorns (i.e. taken up with the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches), then the Word of God cannot really bear much fruit in us.
In our quiet time of prayer, let us reflect seriously on the above, and sincerely admit under which category we fall. Let us pray to the Good Lord that, by His grace and our effort, our heart may gradually come to resemble the “good ground” which “bore fruit and yielded thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold (Mt 13:23).
Is 55:10-11; Ps 64:10-14; Rom 8:18-23; Mt 13:1-23
Those who followed some studies in philosophy cannot help but recall Aristotelian philosophy when they read the Gospel text which the Church proclaims on this 15th Sunday in ordinary time. Aristotle remains a gigantic figure in the history of philosophy and also proved to be very influential in theological studies, especially since the Middle Ages when his works were, so to say, baptized into Christianity by the great Dominican theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Aristotle was a marine biologist and an exceptionally keen observer of nature. He observed that things in the world had an inbuilt tendency to actualize their potentialities in order to reach their ultimate goal or end. He also noted that whether they failed or succeeded in achieving their goal depended on whether or not they found the right conditions. For instance, if an acorn is provided with the right conditions (i.e. fertile soil, sunlight, water, manure, etc.), it gradually grows and eventually develops into a fully-fledged oak tree.
The same thing can be said about the Word of God. As we find in the first reading from Isaiah, just as “rain and snow come down from heaven … and soak the earth and water it” causing it to bear fruit in due time, so God’s Word shall not return to Him empty but shall do whatever pleases Him and shall prosper in the things for which He sent it (Is 55:10-11). However, like the aforementioned acorn, the Word of God can only bear fruit in us if it finds the right conditions i.e. an open mind and a pure well-disposed heart.
Indeed, if our heart is like an exposed way side carelessly prone to intruders (i.e. though hearing the Word of God, it does not understand or believe it), if it resembles “stony ground with not much earth” (i.e. it is unprepared for turbulence and persecution because of the Word), if it is like a piece of land shrouded with thorns (i.e. taken up with the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches), then the Word of God cannot really bear much fruit in us.
In our quiet time of prayer, let us reflect seriously on the above, and sincerely admit under which category we fall. Let us pray to the Good Lord that, by His grace and our effort, our heart may gradually come to resemble the “good ground” which “bore fruit and yielded thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold (Mt 13:23).
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