20260712 NATURE GROANING FOR FREEDOM AND GLORY OF GOD’S CHILDREN
12 July 2026, Sunday, 15th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Isaiah 55:10-11 |
The word that goes out from my mouth does not return to me empty
Thus says the Lord: ‘As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 64(65):10-14 |
Some seed fell into rich soil and produced its crop.
You care for the earth, give it water,
you fill it with riches.
Your river in heaven brims over
to provide its grain.
Some seed fell into rich soil and produced its crop.
And thus you provide for the earth;
you drench its furrows;
you level it, soften it with showers;
you bless its growth.
Some seed fell into rich soil and produced its crop.
You crown the year with your goodness.
Abundance flows in your steps,
in the pastures of the wilderness it flows.
Some seed fell into rich soil and produced its crop.
The hills are girded with joy,
the meadows covered with flocks,
the valleys are decked with wheat.
They shout for joy, yes, they sing.
Some seed fell into rich soil and produced its crop.
Second reading | Romans 8:18-23 |
The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons
I think that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us. The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons. It was not for any fault on the part of creation that it was made unable to attain its purpose, it was made so by God; but creation still retains the hope of being freed, like us, from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same freedom and glory as the children of God. From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free.
Gospel Acclamation | 1S3:9,Jn6:68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 13:1-23 |
A sower went out to sow
Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables.
He said, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Listen, anyone who has ears!’
Then the disciples went up to him and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’ ‘Because’ he replied, ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them. For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:
You will listen and listen again, but not understand,
see and see again, but not perceive.
For the heart of this nation has grown coarse,
their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes,
for fear they should see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their heart,
and be converted
and be healed by me.
‘But happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
‘You, therefore, are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’
NATURE GROANING FOR FREEDOM AND GLORY OF GOD’S CHILDREN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISA 55:10-11; PS 64(65):10-14; ROM 8:18-23; MT 13:1-23]
God created the world with everything in it, placing man and woman at the summit of creation. It is God’s plan that creation will be guided in its growth to full maturity through the stewardship of human beings. God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” (Gen 1:26) Human beings, being invested with intellect and will, are called to exercise stewardship over creation. To dominate creation does not mean that they can use it as they please; rather, they are called to make it grow. God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Gen 1:28)
Alas, because of sin, man himself is a fallen creature. He suffers the consequences of the loss of original justice. Instead of being at one with creation and leading it to greater heights, his self-centeredness and ignorance have led him to betray it. He has become an enemy of creation. Instead of seeing creation as his friend and ally, he seeks to dominate it in a way that is abusive and destructive, preventing creation from attaining the glory and fulfilment that God intended for His work. Instead, man is destroying creation by failing to respect the laws of nature that govern it.
When ecology is destroyed, creation — being interconnected — also breaks down. Whether it is plants, animals, insects, or the weather, they are all so deeply connected that the destruction of one will negatively impact other parts of creation. Indeed, indiscriminate deforestation, the killing of wildlife, and imbalances in marine life have led to a situation where climate warming causes plants, animals, birds, and marine life to die. This results in extreme changes in weather, leading to floods, droughts, typhoons, and earthquakes. Nature is blind, and when the laws of nature are not respected by man, nature will hit back. In the final analysis, the greed of man to harness creation for his selfish needs, without due respect for the laws of nature, has led humanity to this crisis. Indeed, industrialists and entrepreneurs are the main causes of the destruction of our planet, a price for which later generations will have to pay and are already paying.
Indeed, respect for the laws of nature is critical for harmonious living in creation, not just among other creatures and created things, but with human beings as well. In the first reading, the Lord says, “As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.” God has created nature with its own laws. If all of us followed the laws of nature, we would not be in this situation. There would be order in creation, and creation would flourish and benefit humanity even more. As it is, by abusing creation, we have depleted natural resources without due consideration, to the detriment of the future of humanity and the planet.
The laws of creation are given by God; they are a divine mystery. The laws of nature must be understood within the context of the law of grace. We will never be able to contemplate enough the majesty and wisdom of our Creator. All things are created in such a way that they follow certain laws so that they can live, grow, and flourish. This mystery of God’s grace at work in our lives is also brought out in today’s Parable of the Sower. Jesus said, “Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up, they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.” God sows the seed, but where the seed falls is a mystery of grace. So too, we can sow the seed, we can preach the Word, and we can give instructions as to how one should live his or her life; yet, not all are capable of receiving it with the same depth and understanding. These are given factors. Just as we do not determine where we are born, our intelligence, or our charisms and gifts, we must understand that everything is a grace from God.
However, this does not mean that we do nothing and just depend on the grace of God. We have a responsibility to cooperate with God’s grace, remembering that His grace precedes our cooperation. In other words, unless He has given us charisms, we will not have the means to employ them for good and for service. Hence, in the explanation as to why some cannot understand the parables, it is because they do not cooperate with God’s grace. Jesus explained, “For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. They look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. Their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed by me.”
Accordingly, the laws of nature also apply to human beings in the way we respect and cooperate with the laws of creation. In the explanation of the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explains the different levels of receptivity to the Word of God. For those who hear the word “without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart.” Those who receive it “on patches of rock” are those who hear the word and welcome it at once with joy, but have no root and do not last. Those who received the seed among thorns are those who allow the worries of this world and the lure of riches to choke the word, and so produce nothing. Then, “the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.” It is worth noting that even the yield of the harvest varies among different people.
Consequently, it is important for us to cooperate with both the laws of nature and the law of grace. Our task is to lead the whole of creation, including ourselves, to fulfilment in this world and the next. This is what St. Paul envisaged when he wrote, “I think that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us. The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons. It was not for any fault on the part of creation that it was made unable to attain its purpose; it was made so by God.” It is God’s plan and desire for us to attain fulfilment eventually. Hence, St. Paul gives us this vision: “But creation still retains the hope of being freed, like us, from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same freedom and glory as the children of God.”
Our task, therefore, is to be guided by the Word of God and be formed in the image and likeness of Christ, so that we can lead creation and ourselves back to God. At this moment in time, creation is not yet perfected; hence the inconsistencies, the lack of harmony in creation, and the destruction caused by the sins of man. But when we are reconciled with God and walk in His ways of truth and love, then we will renew creation and bring it to fulfilment alongside us when we come into glory in heaven, in Christ. As it is, we already have a foretaste of God’s intention to recreate the world through His grace at work in us through the Holy Spirit. “From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free.” Let us therefore be good stewards of God’s creation by being rooted in the Word of God and in the life of the Spirit.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
