Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 19, 2026
When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.
“A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold.”
After saying this, he called out,
“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.
He answered,
“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;
but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.
“This is the meaning of the parable.
The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
As a business student in the middle of wedding planning, I spend a lot of time thinking about efficiency. So today’s gospel struck me because, by those same standards I use to measure myself, God seems almost like a “bad investor.” The sower wastes his time and seed by sowing everywhere, even where it is unlikely to grow.
Among the places where the seed fails to flourish, the thorns stand out to me most. Jesus names “the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life.” Saint Gregory the Great says riches are thorns because they “lacerate the mind by the prickings of their thoughts.” His point is uncomfortable because these thorns are not obviously evil. Wealth, anxiety, and pleasure can seem ordinary, even good, yet they can crowd the heart so completely that, as Gregory says, they “choke the seed.” This warning is important for a culture that measures life by material achievement.
So how do we resist these thorns? Jesus tells us that “the seed is the word of God,” and in Christ, the Word made flesh, God does not merely give something; he gives himself. If we are meant to be the rich soil that allows that Word to grow within us, then receiving God’s generosity should also make us generous enough to waste ourselves in love. To receive that Word fruitfully, then, means allowing God’s generosity toward us to become generosity toward others.
For me, that means being more generous towards the vulnerable or making time for a friend when my own deadlines feel more urgent. This week, as a Notre Dame family, let us ask where God is inviting us to be less efficient and more generous: to give our time, attention, and love without calculating what we will achieve with it.
Prayer
Lord, you explained the meaning of the parable so the disciples could understand more fully. Today, some things may happen that we do not fully understand. But as did the disciples, let us trust you and put our faith in you. Open our hearts and minds so that we, even with our lack of complete understanding, know you are guiding us and leading us this day. We pray this to you our God, forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Januarius was a bishop who gave his life with his friends during a Christian persecution in the Roman empire. He is a best known for a recurring miracle that involves his relics.
Two deacons and a layman were imprisoned after confessing their Christian faith. Januarius was good friends with one of the deacons, and he visited his friend in prison. Guards noticed, and he was arrested, along with another deacon and a layperson.
Januarius and his companions were all beaten, and made to wear iron chains and march in front of the governor’s chariot. They were thrown into jail with the friends Januarius had originally visited.
The group of Christians were condemned to die by being thrown into an arena with wild beasts, but when this was carried out, the beasts could not be enticed to attack. They were sentenced to beheading instead.
This account of Januarius and his companions comes down to us from tradition, and it is difficult to know if it can be trusted. Best guesses indicate he died sometime around 305; the saint seems to have been honored from the fifth century and after.
There is a unique veneration of Januarius’ relics in Naples, where he was bishop. A vial of the saint’s dried blood stands in a reliquary in a church dedicated to him. Several times a year, on dates that correspond to events in the saint’s life and death, people observe the blood in that vial to liquefy, sometimes coming to froth and increase in volume. It is a miracle that has been examined carefully and no explanation has been found. In 2015, the blood liquified when Pope Francis made a visit, which was rare because it occurred outside of one of these special feast days.
Relics of St. Januarius rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Januarius, you are the martyr with miraculous relics who died for your friends and your faith, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Januarius is in the public domain. Last accessed April 2, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
