The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home
July 12, 2026 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 13:1-23
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Today’s gospel contains one of the most recognizable gospel lines in the New Testament. “A sower went out to sow.” You likely know what comes next. It’s an image Jesus used to help us understand the process of learning and living the teachings he came to offer us. For me this directly relates to my own teaching career as a theologian.
Let me elaborate. The first group of students given to my care were first graders. I was a young seminarian, and I was assigned an opportunity to teach youngsters that offered little danger that I would corrupt the little ones assigned to my care. That was more than sixty years ago.
My most recent invitation to teach involved addressing seasoned professors and adults well versed in theological wisdom. In addition, I was invited to teach all levels of education in between. I even had the opportunity to address a room filled with bishops and I once was asked to in enlighten the presidents of all 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States about their role in ensuring that their lay faculty have a clear understanding of Ignatian spirituality.
My point here is not to impress anyone related to my teaching history, but rather I want to underscore one of the most important aspects of being educated in our faith. Put simply, we never graduate. We always remain at the level of seeds growing to maturation. There’s always more to learn. More to inspire us. More to challenge our pre-existing ideas that may need revision or development. Learning about our faith as inspired by the teachings of Jesus never grows old.
Growth in faith may not only occur during our full lifetimes here on Earth. It may even continue in that next place. Those who know me seem to take delight in that fact that I am always reading to learn more. I even keep a journal where I record day by day new and deeper insights related to my personal understanding of faith.
We live our lives here in Earth against a background of infinite wisdom and truth. Jesus is the great sower and we are beneficiaries of the truths he scattered during his time with us. Jesus taught not only about God but also about ourselves and the universe in which we live. God’s Holy Spirit is now our teacher. The question we all need to ask each day is simple. What have we learned today? Hopefully, we can all list something.
David M. Thomas, PhD