Homily for the fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A).
“Brothers and sisters,” Saint Paul says, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us.”
In other words, Saint Paul recognizes that the present time, the world in which we live, is characterized by suffering—pain and weakness, shame and fear, insults and injustices. Human life is not entirely suffering, but suffering is present. Christianity does not promise us a life without it.
But if Saint Paul does not promise to eliminate suffering, what is his message? His message is that suffering can help us obtain a greater glory. In fact, if we read the Gospel with Saint Paul’s words in mind, the meaning of Jesus’ message today becomes clearer.
Jesus uses the image of the seed, and a seed, as we know, must be buried in order to grow. Before taking on its new form, before becoming a plant and blossoming, a seed must lose its old form—it must, in a certain sense, die.
The Christian message is that through suffering, even through death, we can enter into a new life—a life of such glory that the sufferings of the present will seem smaller than the seeds.
But be careful, because the parable Jesus tells in the Gospel indicates that not all seeds sown on the earth will grow—not even the majority. We have a choice. Faced with the sufferings we encounter in life, we have a choice: how do we face them? Suffering can purify us, it can teach us patience, it can remind us of what is truly important in life, and it can awaken within us empathy and compassion for others.
Above all, in suffering we can draw closer to Jesus who suffers, to Jesus who chose suffering precisely to be close to us, to share our entire existence, both in good times and in bad. But suffering can also provoke anger, hatred, the desire for revenge; it can make us more selfish, closed off, and embittered. We have a choice. How will we suffer? Suffer with faith in God and hope in the life to come? Or be defeated by bitterness? Jesus gives us the choice.
Saint Paul says something else in the phrase I quoted. He says that the future glory “will be revealed in us.” The way we suffer will be a witness to the world, just as the death of Jesus reveals to the world the full measure of God’s love. If we choose to suffer with faith, with Jesus always close by, we will become a witness to the world. A powerful witness. A witness to the power of hope. Redemption will be accomplished in us. The glory to come will be revealed in us, and the seed planted in the ground will produce good fruit: thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.
Readings: Is 55:10-11; Rom 8:18-23; Mt 13:1-23
(Original: Italian)
July 12, 2026
Church of Santa Maria in Cappella, Rome
Tony Lusvardi, S.J. 