Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Friday of the 16th week in ordinary time, July 24, 2026

Delivered by Valeria Sandra Hendrawinata from the Parish of Saint Paul in the Diocese of Bandung, Indonesia. Jeremiah 3: 14-17; Rs psalm: Jer 31: 10.11-12ab.13; Matthew 13: 18-23.LISTENING AND UNDERSTANDING The theme for our meditation today is: Listening andUnderstanding. There is a question that is often raised to the people and alsoto the priests which goes like this: "Why in the moments of teaching,reflection, and homily, the listeners are not quite comfortable in listening toit but they are more often found sleepy? Just look at the time the priest givesa homily in the holy Mass, quite a lot of people who are sleepy." There are so many reasons. Weaknesses or deficienciescan be found out from the priest side and the people side as well. The weaknesspoint can be from the preacher himself or can be from his listeners. Quite anumber of people say that the listeners apparently can hear what is beingpreached or proclaimed but they do not understand it. This is considered as oneof the reasons why they are easilly bored and sleepy. These two mental andintellectual abilities, listening and understanding, play important roles inthe growth of our mental, spiritual, and social life. Listening is an activity that is supported by humanears, the instrument that is the first to receive messages that come to us.This activity is the same as seeing with the eyes and feeling with the skin.The messages that come and we are able to hear them are still raw. Forinstance, we feel a drop of water on our skin. This feeling does not meananything before it is processed in the brain so that it becomes a thought or anidea. Only then can an understanding occur in us. A new understanding is made fromthe listening process which is then made up by the mind, which eventuallyshapes new attitude, behavior and way of life. That is why Jesus is very firm in saying that a goodperson is the one who can hear and understand the Word of God that isproclaimed to him. If he only listens to it, he does not have a completegoodness from God. His understanding will never happen if he does not hear theWord of God. Such person with adequate ability to listen and understand is likethe good soil, that is when the Word of God comes to him, it will grow and bearmuch fruit in his life. In the activity of hearing and understanding we mustbe able to avoid some of these things: our hearts and minds seem to be like bigand small streets where the word of God falls there, then birds or chickenscome to eat it, and finally the word of God does not grow. We seem also likerocks with so little soil on it, and where the word of God grows on it, it doesnot take roots, and eventually withers when the sun becomes hot and it dies.Our hearts and minds seem like thorns and shrubs, then when the word of Godgrows, it will be crushed and threatened to death. By avoiding all thosedefects in ourselves, what remains is we as the good and fertile soil. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O God almighty, we pray that by Yourprovidence, we may become good and fertile soil so that your Word will flourishand ultimately bear much fruit. Hail Mary, full of grace... In the name of theFather ...