“Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Matthew 13:18-23
Do you know others who fit one of these? Which do you relate to? Can you change?
We see (and judge) those in the world who we believe are the seed on the concrete road. The politicians or people in the pew who claim their Catholic faith but support the murder on the unborn or un-Biblical relations. But, if we judge, does that make us one of these?
The ‘tiller’ is God. A good farmer constantly is breaking (tilling) the earth and adding to it that it may be fruitful.
Twenty years ago, I stood on a very hardened road. No seed could break through my hard heart. Nothing God threw at me could take root. Not only was the ‘soil’ of my heart hardened, but I was casting poisons over it as well. The poisons of a hedonistic life of sin. But, God, the ever patient and persistent farmer, kept working. Then, one event to me was like the moment Rocky hit Drago and saw he could bleed. That moment was my father’s death. I was so hard of heart, pharaoh would have felt sorrow for me. No way was God going to get between me and my ‘fun’ aka sin. Then, beside that casket at 3AM (yes, the hour of mercy – God works in big wow moments), the Tiller finally cracked through the stone and a seed was set.
It took several more years of the seed trying by to root, while I tried to pull it out and kill it, before it started to truly grow. Like a huge redwood or oak, my faith grows from the smallest of seeds in the riskiest of locations. But, once I stopped trying to kill it, this seed’s roots dig deep and started to grow.
I can attest that a soul can move from hardness to good soil. Though, my soul still needs alot of tilling. The key isn’t the work of the soul but the work of the Tiller upon the soil.
God wants your heart, 1,000%, He wants the mercy and love of His heart to take root and flourish in you. He desires every soul to let the seed of His love break through the hardness.
We do have a part. We must stop trying to kill His efforts with our sinful ways. We must live holy lives supplemented by the Church and Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. We must water this seed with His word in the Bible and writings of the Saints and Church – my favorites are Divine Mercy in My Soul and St. Faustina (of course) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Then, as that seed in our own hearts starts to grow, we must become the sower. We must start spreading the seeds into other hearts. For those we can’t touch, that politician or other person outside our world, we must pray. Prayer is a formidable seed spreader – ask St. Therese of Lisieux (a cloistered nun who is the patron of missionaries).
If God has touched your life, your hands and baskets are full of seeds – go sow.