SOWER OF THE SEED
Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary and Joseph.
“Jesus said to his disciples:
“Hear the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” MT 13:18-23
God is the sower, His Word is the seed, Jesus is the Word made Flesh who came to Divinely Reveal the Word, our hearts are the soil. Today’s lesson in the Gospel is quite simple. How do you respond to the Word of God, the revealed Truth of Jesus Christ and His call? It is still here for us to read daily and reflect on to strengthen our faith OR put in the night stand or on a bookshelf and never read.
The second lesson is we have to have an open mind and heart or the seed (God) can’t do what it was made for. God doesn’t force us to love Him back because He is love and if love is forced there’s no love at all. Don’t worry God is patiently waiting on you. He is here all of the time seeking you, loving you, waiting for you to respond.
Then, when you encounter Him, you will be on a spiritual adventure with many challenges but the reward is peace and joy, knowing and understanding you are loved and belong to someone who loves you more than anyone on earth could. Allow yourself to be loved. It is the most difficult decision you’ll ever make because it requires you to be vulnerable.
Our ego doesn’t like it because the ego has to keep us on top and everyone else below us. Our ego wants to control everything which leads to worry and anxiety. What a battle! An all out war in the human heart. A constant back and forth between our fallen nature and Satan tempting us while God is trying to fill us up with His life (grace) and teach us how much we are loved. The key to the battle: humility, killing our ego and asking God to fill us up with Himself each day for the battle.
He gives us a perfect model of this in Himself. He reveals Himself as a baby! He is completely vulnerable needing to be taken care of by humans. We’re talking about the all powerful God! The One who created everything out of nothing (we are still discovering things we didn’t know existed). The One who deals life and death. On top of that, He came down to be with us, taking all of our suffering and sin, and once and for all, nailing it to a cross.
This sacrifice connects us back to the Father. A sacrifice re-presented at every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so we can offer our blood, sweat, and tears of the week through the Son to our Father. In return, we receive the grace we need. The grace which forgives our sins, drives us to avoid the near occasion of sin especially serious sin, unites us with God Himself, unifies all of God’s children, and helps us anticipate heaven or draws us closer to wanting to be with our Father forever.
Then, He stays behind with us being completely vulnerable in the Eucharist. Then, He gives us Himself in the Holy Spirit to guide us to Truth, defeat Satan, and guide us back to Him. How can God be so vulnerable yet so powerful? LOVE and the cool part of that is we are chosen to receive it and do something with it. This brings great joy!
Jesus reminds us today that we should not only read it and understand it, but live it. He even tells us the Devil hates the Word, therefore we know this is a powerful source to get close to God and become holy. It is the road map to heaven.
We know how quickly we forget things. A daily habit of prayer is essential to getting back to the Father. We must wake each day and read the Good News (spend time building a relationship with our Creator and Savior). Jesus claimed to be God, died for it, and proved that He was through His resurrection.
His Word is everlasting and never dies. It leads us in our prayer life and Jesus speaks to our heart through it so we can get to know Him personally. He wants to become our best friend. Our lives are very busy, but we never miss a meal and make time for food.
No Bible, no breakfast, no Bible no bed. -Fr. Larry Richards
Today’s challenge: Don’t let your soul starve. Feed it with the Word of God, strive to understand the Word better, and put it into action. Get up 15 minutes early and read and reflect on the Mass readings or read a short section of a Gospel each day. Start writing your reflections in a journal. Download a Bible app and put it next to your favorite social media app. Listen to Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz. Read daily reflections by Bishop Barron at the Word On Fire website to more fully understand God’s Word.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YOLO
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