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 usIn your patient care;
Be your love before, behind us,
Be around us, everywhere:
Lest the gods of this world blind us,
Lest they speak us fair,
Lest they forge a chain to bind us,
Lest they bait a snare,
Turn not from us, call to mind us,
Find, embrace us, bear;
Be your love before, behind us,
Be around 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: Saturday greetings and blessings of rest and peace to all today! I hope your day has started off well. It was a long day of taping yesterday but a successful one. Our new site at Immaculate Conception Parish turned out very nice and we are very happy with the results. I hope our television and on-line community will we too!
It is the start of a beautiful day here in Pelham and I am
looking forward to the gifts that it will bring. I will be making final
preparations today for a special journey that I will begin on Monday. More
about this special journey tomorrow. I hope you will have a great Saturday and
that you to will look forward to the gifts that this day will bring.
My prayer of blessing for all of you today 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 Saturday and don’t forget
to give a little time to God this weekend. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul