We are seeds, planted by God

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For 17 September 2016, Saturday of week 24 in Ordinary Time, based on Luke 8:4-15

When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to Jesus, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

  Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that
‘looking they may not perceive,
and listening they may not understand.’

  “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.


Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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About Brendan Curran, OP

Fr. Brendan serves on the International Dominican Commission for Justice and Peace. He serves as the North American Dominican Co-promoter for Justice and Peace and the Integrity of Creation, the commission for justice and peace representing Dominican sisters, brothers, priests, and laity in the United States and Canada. Fr. Brendan serves at the Resurrection Project in Chicago, advocating for school choice.

Fr. Brendan Curran, O.P. is a Dominican priest who for the past several years has served as Special Assistant to the President at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. Fr. Curran is the founding chair of the Dominican University Latinx Visioning Working Group, designing support and leveraging the cultural strength of first-generation immigrant students and families in admissions, scholarships and grants, classroom, advising, career mentoring, and alumni/ae.

Before arriving at Dominican University, Fr. Brendan served for nine years, as pastor of St. Pius V Catholic Church, considered one of the most prominent pastors fighting for immigrant rights in the Midwest. He led a parish staff of over 5o full-time employees with a budget of $ 3 million. St Pius V has been the home to the HOPE Domestic Violence Intervention Program, the largest parish-based program in the United States.

In 2014, one of his proudest moments, he was a critical voice in convincing the Illinois General Assembly to pass Illinois Drivers Licenses for undocumented immigrants protecting over 300,000 immigrant drivers in Illinois.

He is a founding leader of Priests for Justice for Immigrants, an organization of over 100 priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago to support for comprehensive immigration reform in the struggle for immigrant rights.

He has been published in the books: Marcha! Latino Chicago and the Immigrant Rights Movement (2010, University of Illinois Press) and Hope Dies Last by Studs Terkel (2003, The New Press). He is also an outspoken presenter and facilitator on leadership and immigrant rights, Catholic Social Teaching, and retreats in the Midwest.