Tilling our hearts

Sisters and brothers in Christ, today's Gospel is the familiar parable of the sower of seeds. The seed is the word of God. Some seeds fall on the path but then are plucked away. Some seeds fall on rocky ground but do not take root. Some seeds fall in thorn bushes and are choked. Thanks be to God, some seeds fall in rich soil and bear fruit.

While the scenarios in this parable are often seen as four distinct situations, oftentimes, when it comes to faith, it is culminative and occurs over the life of an individual. Faith formation, unlike education which can continue well into adulthood, ends in the teen years unless one discerns the priesthood or religious life or one pursues studies in theology. Therefore, it is so important for parents to help their children prepare their hearts to receive the word because they have such a short period of time to do so, and they are competing with many other things for the children's attention.

Unless a person's heart is prepared to receive the word of God, then after Confirmation, or sometimes even before that, "the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe." In many cases, "they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation." This happens a lot with young adults in college. Then, what remains of word the God is "choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,  and they fail to produce mature fruit," when they enter the workforce.

As one can see, it is a domino effect when a person's heart is not prepared to receive the word of God, and it starts with parents as the primary formators of their children’s faith in the domestic church. Parents should be joyful when sharing their Catholic faith, especially when it comes to attending Mass as a family and praying together. They should allow their children to question their beliefs and not be afraid to work together with their children to find the answers. Faith formation is a lifelong journey, never stop learning.

These are ways parents can cultivate rich soil in their children’s hearts so they can be the ones who, "when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.”

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Gospel of the Day

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable. 
“A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold.”
After saying this, he called out,
“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.
He answered,
“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;
but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.
“This is the meaning of the parable. 
The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, 
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”