July 12, 2026
Dear Friends,
You’ve probably heard of the theory that people can be categorized into left-brain people, who tend to be more analytical, and right-brain people, who tend to be more artistic. Perhaps you are even used to thinking of yourself as either left-brained or right-brained. Of course, we all use both hemispheres of our brains, and the human brain is far too complex to reduce us to such a simple categorization.
Labelling ourselves as left-brained or right brained, analytical or artistic, can become a self-fulfilling prophecy that keeps us from developing abilities and engaging in activities that we imagine are not in line with our personality and skills. This can happen in our everyday lives, and it can also happen in our life of faith. And so, it’s important for us to get out of the little mental boxes we create for ourselves, so that we bring our whole self into our relationship with God and others.
Starting today, and for the next two Sundays, the Word of God will help us to do this by inviting us to engage with a series of Jesus’ parables. Now, parables are a particular kind of story, in which the parable teller begins in the audiences’ known world, and then, just when the audience is feeling comfortable with the familiar, the story is given a surprising turn which
“teases” the listeners into an unexpected revelation, a new way of thinking—if they are open to the new, if they have eyes ready to see and ears ready to listen.
Parables appeal to our imagination and emotions, to the right side of our brain, rather than to the logic and analysis characteristic of the left brain. Their unique way of giving insight can be seen when we compare today’s parable with the prophet Isaiah’s comparison of God’s Word to rain that we heard in the first reading. Isaiah’s words make sense to us. They seem logical. Over the past few of weeks, we have seen how rain has turned dry, yellow grass to lush, green grass. We can connect the dots and realize that God’s Word can do the same with us.
But Jesus’ parable in the Gospel works differently. Jesus tells a narrative that would have surprised his original audience. They would have understood that the seed on the path, the rocky ground, and the thorns would not bear fruit. But that the seed in rich soil produce fruit a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold was probably shocking to them. They wondered what Jesus could be saying about God and His kingdom.
Perceiving and receiving the good news revealed in this parable requires eyes to see and ears to hear. It requires the eyes of the sculptor, who can “see” the sculpture even before he has picked up the chisel. It requires the ears of the composer, who can “hear” the sound of the melody before she has put a note down on paper. Perceiving and receiving the inbreaking of God’s kingdom into our world requires a receptivity and sensitivity that logic and facts can’t achieve.
As we prepare for the change to the Mass schedule that will take place on August 1 and all the other changes that will follow, we will need that God-given receptivity and sensitivity to recognize and respond to the inbreaking of God’s kingdom in our midst. But, as St. Paul reminds us in the reading from his Letter to the Romans, we often experience the inbreaking of God’s kingdom as “labor pains.” The birth of something new almost always involves groans and tears. But the hope that enables us to endure those pains is the fact that the Lord can make us into rich soil that can receive and nurture his word. The changes we will experience, as painful as they may be, are a way for us to till the soil of our lives and communities, so that the Lord produce an incredibly abundant harvest that, on our own, we could never have imagined or produced.
So, whether you are a “left-brain” or a “right-brain” person, during these three weeks that we listen to Jesus recount a series of parables, my prayer is that we will let the whole of our being—our mind, our heart, our imagination, our will—be informed and transformed by Jesus’ way of describing the kingdom of God. If we do, then we will be able to recognize how that kingdom is breaking into our lives, producing a great harvest.
Peace,
Father Leo