Daily Thoughts: I have often
used the parable of the Sower and the Seed that we find in today Gospel in my
mission preaching. And even though Jesus explains it to his disciples I usually
use a different interpretation. Jesus talks about the different kinds of soil
in the parable as being different kinds of people however I often use the
different kinds of soil to represent different conditions of our hearts.
If we say that Jesus is the sower and
our hearts are the field, then as Jesus sowers the seed his word, his grace,
his blessing, his hope, his love in our life the seed encounter four different
kinds of soil. Three of which do not allow the seed to grow and one of which
does. In other words, perhaps our parable today asks us to look into our own
hearts to see what might not allow God’s grace, God’s blessing, God’s hope or
God’s love to grow within us.
It might be the hardness of the foot
path. The place of our heart that have been hurt, stepped on by the struggles
of life. All of us have been hurt in life, by words, actions, the lack of words
or the lack of actions in life. When we are hurt we harden so that we don’t get
hurt again.
We might have some rock, stones, pebbles
or boulders in our hearts that take up room and don’t allow the seed to grow.
Rocks and boulders you ask? Our sinfulness, our faults and failings, our
character defects, the sins in our life that take up space in our hearts and do
not allow anything to grow with in that place of our hearts.
Then there are the weeds and thorns, the
stuff of life, sometimes good stuff that is over grown and chokes of whatever God
plants. The things of life that often become more important than our
relationship with God. Sometimes good things that become gods and choke off the
grace, the blessing, the hope and the love that God offers us as a gift.
We want our hearts to be all good soil.
Soil ready and willing to accept whatever God plants so that it will grow and
produce fruit a hundredfold! Why not take some time today and look into your
heart. What is not allowing the grace of God to be planted, take root and grow
within you? What places in your heart need a little word so that they become
good soil?
Have a great Saturday everyone!
Daily Prayer:
O God, seek us, O God, find us
In your patient care;
Be your love before, behind us,
Round us, everywhere:
Lest the god of this world blind us,
Lest he speak us fair,
Lest he forge a chain to bind us,
Lest he bait a snare,
Turn not from us, call to mind us,
Find, embrace us, bear;
Be your love before, behind us,
Round us, everywhere. Amen!
(Adapted from a prayer by Christina
Rossetti)
A Runner’s Thoughts: “Running
transported him, taking his mind to another place, very deep within. Like
prayer.” (Richard Christian Matheson, "Third Wind") Will be dare to
let running and prayer take us to another place deep within ourselves today?
Daily Blessing: Happy Saturday
and blessings of rest and peace to all today! I hope your day has started off
well. I am sitting and waiting for the Chimney Cleaners to arrive this morning.
They are to be here between 9 am and 12 noon. My luck it will be right at noon.
I am also working on my homily for this weekend as I have mass this evening at
5 pm at St. Malachy’s Church in Manhattan and the noon mass tomorrow at St.
John and St. Mary Parish in Chappaqua, NY. If you are in the area of either of
these two churches come and join me in celebrating the Lord’s Day!
My prayer of blessing for all of you as
I begin this new day is that God will bless all your endeavors, your
encounters, your times of solitude, your moments of busyness and your times of
rest today. May this day be what you need it to be. May it be a gift from God
that enables you to find the present of God in your life, especially within
yourself! Have a great day and don’t forget to give a little time to God this
weekend. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
PS You can also catch me on the Sunday
Mass broadcast nationwide on ABC Family Channel at 6:30 am or online at thesundaymass.org.
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