July 27, 2018 Friday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Jr 3:14-17
Gospel: Mt 13:18–23
Jesus said to his disciples, “Now listen to the parable of the sower.When a person hears the message of the Kingdom but without taking it to himself, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath.The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy. But this fickle and has no roots. No sooner is he harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up.The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word, and it does not bear fruit.As for the seed that fell on good soil it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”, wrote Elmer Letterman (TSQB, Roy B. Zuck). Luck is not pure chance. It comes to those who are prepared and ready to work hard when opportunity knocks. It’s like missing the bus. When the bus passes by, only those who are prepared to hop in can be part of the journey. Opportunity is useless to the unprepared.
The same dynamics are at work in the invocation of God’s blessings. Preparation (human disposition) and opportunity (God’s initiative) must concur to summon divine grace. The Parable of the Sower provides four categories of human disposition to God’s initiative. First: those who “sacrifice” themselves for the Word and eventually bear much fruits. Second: those who “embrace” the Word but vacillate because of economic challenges. Third: those who “excuse” themselves fearing persecutions. Fourth: those who “decline” the Word altogether.
God’s deep respect for human freedom gives human disposition so much power to limit God’s initiative. The Holy Eucharist is a case in point. When the sacraments are celebrated, grace flows in abundance. But when a person attends Mass unprepared, let alone with hearts full of evil desires, his disposition bars God’s grace.
This is enshrined in the Church’s teachings encapsulated in the Latin terms ‘ex opere operato’ and ‘ex opere operantis’. The former refers to God’s intervention through the Sacraments. When the sacraments are celebrated, complying with all formal requisites, grace flows in abundance. “Ex opere operantis” refers to human disposition. Notwithstanding the overflow of grace, a person with hearts full of evil desires will not derive maximum spiritual benefits therefrom. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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