Breaking the Word

24^th Week in Ord. Time, Saturday – 17^th September 2022 — Gospel:          Lk 8,4-15

People of Different Categories

There were large crowds of people journeying to Jesus from one town after another. They came to him with a variety of abilities of understanding, levels of education, and beliefs of faith.  Indeed, the crowds flocked to hear his words and looked for more miracles from Jesus.  He knew that his work of building the kingdom had failed, because they didn’t understand him, and they formed false views of the kingdom. Thus, Jesus now changes his method of teaching, veiling his thoughts in parables.  The parables Jesus told communicated profound truths in a simple way to the very diverse group of listeners gathered.  Despite their varied backgrounds, the truth that Jesus came to preach was their level of fruitfulness.  Jesus likens the soils of a field to the different kinds of people on this earth. Everybody falls into one of these four categories. In order for the seed of God’s word to produce its fullness of life, it needs to fall on the rich soil which can lead to abundant growth.

24^th Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 16^th September 2022 — Gospel: Lk 8,1-3

Model of Service

The women who followed Jesus offered practical help that Jesus needed to continue his mission. They were his ministry partners providing food and drink for the journey and were taking care of their physical needs. The word “ministered” in Greek is diakonos, which recalls a servant whose primary responsibility is to serve food and wait on tables.  Luke uses this word to picture the attitude of the women who served Jesus by financially supporting Jesus’ ministry. These women believed that their supreme task was to provide what Jesus and his disciples needed to fulfill their ministry without hindrance. Further the Greek usage indisputably means that these women did this task consistently and regularly; in other words, they habitually donated money to Jesus’ ministry. They were faithful partners on whom Jesus could rely. This lets us know that these were wealthy women. The works of these women had an immeasurable impact on Christ’s mission in the early church that served as a model to the spiritual works of mercy among Christians. By providing to our neighbour some of our resources, we serve in a real and tangible way Jesus Christ, as these women did.