Fertile Ground - Reflection 15th Sunday OTA

 Fertile Ground

Readings

"A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

When it comes to mass, you usually see many of the same faces, some faces you don’t see as often, and then some you see once or twice a year.

I was thinking about this in reflecting on the gospel. To grow a seed has to fall on fertile ground. For us to grow in the Gospel, to grow in love, we have to be in fertile ground.

There is an old saying “We are what we eat.”There is something else I have always been told. “All that we hear and we see becomes part of us.

Those two sayings are true for those who consider themselves Catholics. The Mass, the worship of God, and the praise and thanksgiving of the Eucharist, becomes part of who we are. We are what we eat, all that we hear and see becomes part of us.  Today, what we eat, we see, and we hear can be far from God. 

In scriptures Jesus’ followers found Jesus’ teachings hard and left him. But the disciples who stayed asked to whom else shall we go?

That’s what we find in the gospel. It asks are we fertile ground like the disciples who stayed or have we gone somewhere else and become hard, rocky, or thorny ground. Each and every time we turn away or forget or have something more important than God, we become bad ground that cannot grow the seed that is the word God has put in us. Instead, to whom else do we go?

In life, I have been guilty of going somewhere else, probably many of us have. I played golf, instead of coming to mass. Or, the ball game was to start at noon and if mass is long; I’d miss the pregame and some of the first quarter. And, I heard it was to be a great game.

At one time in my life, a child’s ball game or athletic event was more important than mass. The most important thing for my child’s life is to play ball, mass can wait. God’s asks something hard; to whom else shall we go?

At some time, I realized this truth. The truth of those who stayed that Jesus has the message of eternal life.

I understood this parable of Jesus; the hard ground, the rocky ground, and the thorns. My life had been the all those places.

Many times I’ve been hard and indifferent to the word of God. The birds were things I put before God. And because of my hardness and the things I put before  God, truth and love had no chance to grow. I put things before Him; a round of Golf, a ball game, or even work.

There were times I was on rocky ground. I thought I was good Christian but inside I was hateful to the world. Ugly and angry thoughts burned up the good inside of me for no reason other than to justify my own unhappiness. The seed of truth and love of God sown by Jesus could not find fertile soil.

When I was younger I lived among thorns. Even though I knew the love of Christ, I frequented things that were a bad influence not to change hearts; but, more often than not changing mine. Life among thorns can choke the love and goodness in you.

In times I was hard of heart or in a rocky place or living among thorns, God seed was in a little patch of fertile soil my parents had prepared in me. The seed that fell on this rich and fertile place grew. It made me work on the bad places. It worked to soften the hard part of me. I worked on the rocky parts and got the thorns out of my life.

I got away from bad influence of things I saw and heard that became part of me. I ate the body of Christ. I drank His blood. I saw and heard prayers of praise and thanksgiving that drew me closer to Jesus. That little patch of fertile ground became more and more. “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to us....To anyone who has, more will be given.”

Are we being infertile ground so love and truth has trouble growing in us, our spouse, children, and friends?

What are you putting before God? A  ballgame, work, a fishing trip, or maybe a trip to Disney World,  remember, all in this present time is as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.

Consider the example you set for others, because we are what we eat, all that we hear and see becomes part of us. You build fertile ground by the way you live, love, and preach the gospel.

Yall be good, yall be holy. Amen.