The Branches

Though the mountains fall away and the hills be shaken, 
my love shall never fall away from you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, 
says the Lord, who has mercy on you. (Isaiah 54:10)

July 14, 2026

Hello Everyone —

Yet just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it. (IS 55:10-11, emphasis added)

Do you recall the childhood ditty:
          “Sticks and stones may break my bones — but words will never hurt me.”?

Perhaps from one child to another, it is a soothing, get-even retort to counter the words of the other. And maybe it even allows the individual to move beyond a particular moment.

But in real time, we know the contrary to be true. Words can and do hurt, depending upon who says them and the words that are used in the exchange.

As we live our lives, we come to realize the power of our human words. They so easily can be used to build up — to affirm and support — to provide instruction and to give clarity. But just as easily words can be used to tear down — to malign and ridicule — to politicize, deceive, and confuse.

However, last weekend in the scripture readings of the Mass, we were asked to ponder the power and influence of God’s Word in our lives with its ability to change us as well as the obstacles we place to it.

The image given to us by the Prophet Isaiah (as cited above) is quite vivid and succinct. We know that rain nourishes the earth. We have had the good fortune of witnessing this in recent weeks, given our dry summer. But God’s Word also nourishes us. It is to our spiritual selves what rain is to a parched land.

And if you recall the familiar parable of the sower and the seed as recounted by the evangelist Matthew, we are given a keen and honest insight into the obstacles that God’s Word encounters in you and me.

Truth be told, we are not always as receptive as we could be. Sometimes God’s Word comes to us, but we are simply not interested in hearing it and so it is quickly stolen away by something else. At other times, God’s Word comes, we receive it with some level of excitement, but we do not give it a chance to take any significant root in us. It’s a flash in the pan, so to speak.

Of course, there are times when we are seriously open to receiving God and God’s Word in our lives but then we get overwhelmed by life. It happens. And God ends up taking a rear seat for whatever reason.

Fortunately, there are those times — hopefully more than a few — when God’s Word is received, enters fully into us, and we flourish spiritually — thirty-, sixty-, and hundredfold.

What wonderful, earthy images given to us by the Lord Jesus. Hopefully, we permit them to help us to reflect on our own words — how we use our words — and what we say.

Each in our own way, we are wordsmiths, expressing ourselves — offering our point of view — seeking to be heard. But what do our words — our utterances — reflect about who we really are?

Elsewhere in scripture, we are told that out of an abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (MT 12:34). Yikes!!

And in the midst of all this, God is speaking His Word to us — challenging us to become the Word that has been planted in us.

I guess it begs the question: Who are we becoming?

As I do for you, please pray for me,

Most Reverend Jeffrey S. Grob
Archbishop of Milwaukee