In today’s gospel (Matthew 13:1-23) we hear the parable of the sower. Jesus is essentially telling us what type of inner disposition we need in order to hear God’s Word and allow God’s Spirit to penetrate our being so that God can bear fruit within us and so that we can bear fruit in the world.
Jesus tells us that our hearts and minds must remain open to the workings of God’s Spirit so that the Spirit can take root in us. Jesus is telling us that as God’s Spirit takes root in us we will be able to persevere in our faith even in times of disappointment and suffering. Jesus is telling us that as God’s Spirit takes root in us we will be able to overcome anxieties and worries that can sometimes overwhelm us and eclipse our God. Jesus is telling us that as God’s Spirit takes root in us we will be less inclined to displace God with those worldly ambitions and disordered desires that so frequently infiltrate our hearts and minds. Jesus is telling us that as God’s Spirit takes root in us we will be empowered to more fully live out our faith and our mission as disciples of Christ.
In today’s Old Testament reading (Isaiah 55:10-11) we hear God’s assurance that the Word that God sends forth will not return to him empty, but will accomplish his will. And this is what Jesus emphasizes – that if we accept God’s invitation – if we properly dispose ourselves to him, if we allow him to continually cultivate our “fertile ground” – that more and more will be given to us. Jesus tells us that if we truly welcome God into our lives with open hearts and minds, we can be transformed into the people that God desires us to be.
So today we prayerfully ask our loving God to help us turn to him, to help us do away with that indifference and close-mindedness that makes up the “hard path”, that hard-heartedness that that makes up the “rocky ground”, and those distractions and misplaced priorities that make up the “thorny landscape”. Today we ask God to help us make him the focus of our lives and our utmost priority. Today we ask our “Divine Sower” to cultivate us so that we provide nothing but fertile soil for his holy seed.
Beautifully said, as always.