Where the Word Takes Root

 Readings 071226 

Blessed be God,  

praise be to Jesus Christ,  

forever and ever. Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit—  

fill us with joy,  

set our hearts ablaze  

with Your presence.

Friends… People ask this all the time.  

Several who ask are family:

“Do I have to go to Mass?  

Can’t I just stay home?  

God loves me, I love God—  

I know Jesus…  

isn’t that enough?”

It’s an honest question.  

A human question.  

A question born from love—  

but also from misunderstanding.

Listen to the Lord today.

He says His word is like rain—  

it comes down,  

it soaks the earth,  

it makes life possible.  

And He says something 

many do not want to hear:  

“My word shall not return to me void.”

God’s word is meant to land somewhere.  

It is meant to take root.  

It is meant to bear fruit.

And that “somewhere”…  

is you—  

your heart,  

your soul,  

your life.

This is why we come to Mass.  

Not to “prove” 

we love God,  

but to “receive” 

what we cannot give ourselves.

Jesus Himself gives us the Eucharist.  

The Church calls it  

“the source and summit of the Christian life.”

Not an optional devotion.  

Not a spiritual hobby.  

But the place where Christ:

- feeds His people,  

- forms His Church,  

- strengthens us for the sufferings of this present time—  

which, as Saint Paul says,  

“are nothing compared to the glory to be revealed.”

At Mass, our eyes are blessed because they see.  

Our ears are blessed because they hear.  

Jesus says prophets longed for this—  

longed for what happens here  

every single Sunday.

So yes—God loves you.  

Yes—you love God.  

But love always desires presence.  

Love desires communion.  

Love desires the table  

where the family gathers  

and the Father feeds His children.

We don’t come to Mass because God needs it.  

We come because we do.

Because His word wants to take root.  

Because His Body wants to strengthen us.  

Because His love wants to carry us  

all the way home.

“Lord, let Your word fall on us today.  

Let it bear fruit.  

Let it make us Yours.”

Be good.  

Be holy.  

Come to Mass—  

so you can fully proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ  

in the way you live,  

the way you love,  

and in forgiveness.

Praise be to Jesus Christ,  

forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, 

Draw us close to Your table.  

Let Your Word 

soak our hearts like rain.  

Feed us with Your Body 

and strengthen our souls.  

Make our love for You 

alive in every act of mercy.  

Carry us home through 

Your grace and peace. 

Amen