MY daily reflection and prayer:
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. Matthew 13:1-9
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “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 thirty fold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
WHEN Jesus preached to the crowds about the Kingdom of God, of course, he hoped for a positive response. So he preached about this parable as he watched a farmer sowing seed. He then anticipated the faces and perhaps people who heard his message, but who chose not to respond or whose response was short-lived.
But thanks be to God, some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirty-fold. We can understand that the fruit he wishes us to produce are virtues inspired by faith, hope and love.
In the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist, while adoring Jesus Christ we learn to be good soil that we are growing in virtue each day in imitation of him and for love of him. The greatest of all virtues is charity, a practical and effective love for our neighbor based on our contemplative prayer. How do we to be good soil and produce fruit in our daily life?
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, you know how easy it is for us to allow mediocrity to slip into our life. Grant us the habit of carving out time for you in contemplative prayer each day, and carving out space for you in our life and the lives of others now and forever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
