“The Gospel according to Dr. Seuss” by Brian Flanagan

“The Gospel according to Dr. Seuss” by Brian Flanagan

 

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Instead of your homework or walking your dog,

you’re here on the couch and you’re reading my blog.

Undoubtedly now, you’ve begun to deduce

that this blog is rhyming, just like Dr. Seuss.

 

Particularly, I intend to equate

“The Lorax” and Matthew Thirteen, One through Eight.

 

The Parable deals with a sower who sows;

not a sewer of thread; one who plants seeds that grow.

The Lorax’s climax (and SPOILER ALERT)

deals with planting a Truffula seed in the dirt.

 

So what does a Truffula tree have to do

with the Gospel this Sunday? I haven’t a clue.

 

Just kidding! The parallels jump off the page!

That Seuss was a genius, and Jesus a sage.

 

Old Thneedville is desperate; it’s landscape is bare.

The Thneed manufactures just didn’t care.

They used up the Truffula trees without thinking

and the number of those who remember is shrinking.

 

But those who remember still hold on to hope:

that Truffulas might again grow on the slopes.

They pass ‘round the tale of the Once-ler who’s got

the last Truffula seed, and it’s worth a shot!

 

Well, just like the glory of days before Thneeds,

the Catholics here used to pray rosary beads,

and go to confession and give to the poor.

Does the Church even teach all those things anymore?

 

The parking lots may not be full as they were.

The pews might be emptier than we’d prefer.

But that’s where this parable comes into play;

the Sower is ready, so please don’t delay!

 

The seed of the Sower takes root in our hearts;

to our hearts it imparts all the graces to start

to bring love and bring peace and bring light to all people,

and not just to read God’s Word under the steeple.

 

Yet the seed needs rich soil to grow and to yield

the fruit of the Gospel, that souls might be healed.

So ready your heart to receive the Lord’s Word

and the witness of your life is what will be heard!

 

It’s up to us now to go bring back the lost;

to proclaim the Lord’s Word without counting the cost.

The world needs your witness. The Church needs a model.

So go be a saint, this is no time to dawdle!

 

These powerful words from the great Dr. Seuss;

commit them to memory; put them to use!

“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”