Dear Friends:
This Sunday’s Gospel presents us with the rather well-known “Parable of the Sower” in which Jesus speaks of a farmer sowing seed liberally, without any concern as to where the seed might land. Some falls on the hardened path, where it has no chance to take root. Other seed falls among the thorns and thistles, where they are overwhelmed and choked off. Still other seed falls on rocky ground which is not in any way conducive to the production of good fruit. Finally, some seed falls on good, rich soil where it produces an abundance of good fruit.
The image of the “soil” or the “ground” on which the seed falls refers to our hearts, which can be, due to any number of circumstances, unreceptive to the seed, the word of God sown in us. This image should lead all of us to ask ourselves just what kind of place in our hearts we have or have not prepared for the word of God which is so freely sown among us. Some of us have been hardened by sinful lives and we offer the word no place to penetrate or grow. Others of us have allowed ourselves to fall away from the fervent practice of our faith and that prevents us from being receptive to the word of God preached to us. We are rootless drifters who have no connection to the Lord and, as such, make it difficult for God to work his wonders in our lives. Still others of us have been overcome by the burdens, the cares, the worries, and, even in the case of some, the sinful pleasures of life that they choke the word off and do not allow it to enter our lives and grow.
Wherever we may be in our journey of faith, we must never despair. Nor should we ever rest on our laurels. All of us have fallen short of what God has called us to be in life, and few, if any of us, are so far along the path of holiness and perfection that we can say we have reached our goal. The challenge presented by the parable in the Gospel today is simple. We are asked to open ourselves to the word of God, to engage ourselves in the reading and the praying of the Scriptures. I would hope that many, if not most of us, have personal copies of the Bible. That is a bare minimum requirement. However, having a copy of the Bible but not ever taking the time to read it is insufficient. The Bible is not some kind of artifact to have in the home and rarely to be opened. It is never meant to be a coffee table book or a volume that sits among other books in our bookcases.
Happily, the Church offers us a way to engage ourselves, that is, our hearts and our lives, with the word of God. We are blessed as Catholics with the Lectionary, the book of sacred readings from Scripture used at every Mass. Over a three-year cycle, we as Catholics read from almost every book in the Bible, both in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. A good way to engage ourselves with the Bible is to read it “along with the Church.” Every week in this bulletin, we will list the readings for the daily Masses, including Sunday Mass. Open your Bible and find the selected passages. Read them slowly and prayerfully as part of your daily spiritual exercises and as a way of preparing for the Mass. Ask the Lord to speak to you, to your way of life, in whatever way he chooses as you read and pray with the word. Make this effort and you will find your life changed. You will grow closer to God and it may well make all the difference in the world.
A highly recommended way of praying with Scripture is known as lectio divina. I would encourage you to look lectio divina up online if you have a computer and begin to make use of it. There are also books written on this method of reading and praying with Scripture. It is very powerful indeed.
A final note I would make is to comment on our new and expanded parish bulletin. This has been made possible by many advertisers who have confidence in the size of our parish community. What we can all do by way of appreciation for them is to support, whenever possible, the businesses that make our bulletin a reality. I thank them for their support, and going forward, we will highlight a bulletin advertiser each week, both in the bulletin itself as well as on parish social media outlets.
Have a good week