Peace and all Good! As I begin my new ministry in our parish, I would like to ask you to include me in your daily prayers, so I can serve you better. It is a great blessing to have Fr. Sam, who is with us now, and Fr. Alberto who is coming in September, as my associates. We will be, God willing, a great team to serve you all.

This Sunday’s first reading God compares His Word to the rain and the snow that have the power to keep the world green and alive; and in today’s Gospel, we are presented with another way of thinking of the power of the word of God. Jesus compares the word of God to a seed. We may hink that sometimes whatever we do for God is not producing any effect in other people, or even in ourselves, but as the first reading says, it is according to God’s time, not our time. We need to continue trusting that God is in control of our lives, and God knows what is best for us.

Regarding the Gospel for today, we may have many reactions. I’m sure you all have heard different interpretations of this parable. We can imagine that we are the good soil. We do everything right, we come to Church, we pray. We can think of lots of people who are not as good as we are. Is this the message for us today?

On the other hand, this parable may trigger a bout of self-blame when we think of all our faults and why we are making little or no progress in our Christian life, if we see this parable as a real farmer may see it. The farmer threw the seed in every direction. The seed stands for God’s word and Jesus’ teachings. There are a lot of reasons why some of the seeds do not take root or, if they do, they do not survive. A farmer would know that a normal harvest would produce about seven‐fold and a good harvest would produce about ten‐fold. For the harvest to be greater than that, a miracle would be needed.

Jesus tells us what falls on the good ground produces 30 or 60 or 100‐ fold. Basically, Jesus is telling us that his word, even though it creates problems for some people or is not productive for others, would produce abundantly. His word would have power like the rain and snow. Nothing could prevent God’s word from taking hold.

When we look at the world nowadays, with all its problems: sickness, political or financial issues, you name it, we can get quite discouraged. Jesus is telling us God’s kingdom will emerge triumphant in the end. God’s kingdom has always had to struggle, but it will continue to grow. Let us trust that our lives are hidden in Jesus, and as the second reading states: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God.”

Many blessings, Fr. Oscar

P.S. Just a reminder that we will have our drive through farewell for Fr. Vince on Friday, July 24th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m (page #5). Make sure to RSVP; let us show him how blessed we were to have him as our pastor for 4 ½ years.