Wednesday, July 26, 2017 16th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Ex 16:1-5. 9-15 Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9
Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside. As many people gathered around him, he got in a boat. There he sat while the whole crowd stood on the shore, and he spoke to them in parables about many things.
Jesus said, “The sower went out to sow and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep. But as soon the sun rose the plants were scorched and withered because they had no roots. Again other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants. Still other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop; some produced a hundredfold, others sixty and others thirty. If you have ears, then hear!”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
God’s respect for human freedom limits the power of the Word to penetrate human hearts. When it lands on hearts that are as arid as footpaths or as impenetrable as rock, or as poor as a thorny ground, it goes back to the heavens without taking with it any fruits from human hearts. How humbling of God that his Word should be subject to human freedom. In freedom let us prepare our hearts to welcome the Word.
If our heart is as hard as a footpath, anything sharp that hurts us can loosen it. By offering our pains and tribulations, we can prepare our heart for the Word of God to bear fruits in our lives. If our heart is like rock with thin soil cover, we can prepare it for the Word of God by allowing God’s Word to develop more roots. How? By being rooted in good spiritual habits, such as the habit of prayer.
If our heart is like soil with lots of thorny bushes that can stifle the Word, let us divest our hearts of illegitimate material concerns. While it is good to work hard for material possessions because we need to live decent lives and provide for the future of our families, it is not right that such preoccupation should deprive God of his rightful share of our time. Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. As we give time for our legitimate earthly endeavors, we should also allot time for the Lord.
By turning painful experiences into plowshares to loosen our hearts, by allowing the Word of God to take roots in our hearts by being rooted in the power of prayer, and by tempering our inordinate desire for material possessions, the Word of God can bear fruits in us. All hearts are unworthy of the seed of God’s Word. But to those who strive, grace is never wanting. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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