What is your rocky ground?

What are your thorny areas?

What is your rich soil?

The prophet Isaiah tells us that in the end God’s

Will - will reign supreme.  No matter what happens - - God will conquer all evil.  Julian of Norwich said, “But all will be well, and all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well.”

As we deal with the COVID 19 Pandemic, do we believe that all will be well?  If Jesus was giving us this parable today, he might say it this way: A sower went out wearing a face mask . . .”  A terrible sickness struck a village. The people were terrified of getting sick & wanted to know what to do.

The doctors asked the people to wear face masks to protect one another. We will!  Some did for a while … [but] they soon stopped.  Soon, the sickness took the lives of many in the poor village.  But then there were the good people who understood that wearing a face mask protects others from the sickness, who kept their distance from one another so the sickness would not spread.  It was very hard & many days they wanted to give up.  But they persevered.  Because of them, many people did not get sick and survived.

The parable of the sower challenges us to check the soil in our hearts for the rockiness of selfishness, the thorniness of superiority.  It challenges us to make the soil of our souls: kindness, compassion, generosity and love.  [adopted from Connections, July 2020]

We can do that by wearing our masks, washing our hands frequently, social distancing; inconvenient – but a sign of our Christian love.

 

St. Matthew tells us - God’s WORD planted on good soil returns 100, 60 or 30-fold.  That’s an incredible return on any investment – But, that’s what God’s love can do!

Ben Stein [I am paraphrasing] said, “No corporate title can replace the times when your son/daughter leans their head on your chest & falls asleep.

No limousine or private jet makes up for being there when your child is growing into a young adult.  Time spent with your children & your family isn’t a distraction from the main event. It is the main event.

Very few of us will witness the fruit our lives yield for Our Lord.  But Blessed are we to go forth as sowers of God’s WORD by our lives.  Take some time today and reflect on your soil?

May God Be Praised!

 

I ask you to join me and offer this prayer to the Lord hears our cry.

“Lord, listen to my prayer: turn your ear to my appeal.” [Psalm 143] God, You are our refuge and our hope, we turn to you during this COVID 19 pandemic and plead for Your intercession.  In Your mercy and Your compassion “… grant eternal rest to the dead, comfort to mourners, healing to the sick ….” [Collect from Mass Time in Pandemic].

Grant strength to the first responders and medical personnel.  End this coronavirus scourge.  Bring Your light to all who wander in the darkness of this pandemic and give each of us hope in Your eternal love today and every day.  Amen.  [Dcn. George Kelly]