First Reading: (2 Samuel 7:4–17)
Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 89)
R. I will keep my faithful love for him always.
Gospel: (Mark 4:1–20)
Reflection
The parable of the sower is very familiar to us. It presents three main actors:
The sower
The seed
The soil
Very often, when we reflect on this parable, we focus on the soil and its productivity. Today, however, let us deliberately focus on the sower.
For a great harvest to occur, all three must play their role.
A good and hardworking sower with good seeds cannot produce a harvest if the soil is poor.
A good sower and rich soil cannot produce a harvest if the seeds are rotten.
Even with good soil and good seed, a lazy sower will still fail, because the seed cannot sow itself.
However, a hardworking sower can till unproductive land, water it, manure it, and cultivate it until something good comes out of it.
Before blaming the soil for unproductivity, the sower must ask:
“Have I been effective and faithful in my work?”
Examining Ourselves as Sowers
It is easy:
For a teacher to blame students for failing exams, but did the teacher teach well and complete the syllabus?
For parents to blame wayward children, but did they reflect honestly on their parenting?
For priests to blame Christians for lack of repentance, but did they preach homilies that pierce hearts and call for true conversion?
Sometimes our homilies are dry.
People come to church hungry for God, longing to be edified, but they leave spiritually empty.
We preach about:
money,
miracles,
breakthroughs,
but not enough about:
repentance,
conversion,
carrying the cross,
holiness of life.
We publish homily books with beautiful titles, Scattering the Seeds, My Daily Bread, The Mustard Seed, Breaking the Word, but we must ask ourselves:
Do we truly scatter the seed?
And what kind of seed are we scattering?
It is possible to scatter seeds, and still scatter the wrong seeds.
We Are All Sowers
Dear friends, being a sower is not the duty of priests or pastors alone.
Parents are sowers in the home.
Teachers are sowers in the classroom.
Leaders are sowers in society.
Every Christian is a sower by word and example.
Wherever you find yourself, you are sowing something.
So ask yourself:
What kind of seed do I sow?
Seeds of love or hatred?
Seeds of peace or division?
Seeds of unity or discord?
Remember:
A person reaps what they sow.
Do Not Give Up on the Soil
What effort do we make to manure the soil, even when it seems unproductive?
Christ never gave up.
That is why He is the Good Sower.
Some of us have already given up, on our children, on our communities, on our parishes, on people we consider “hard soil.”
But Christ kept sowing.
He kept watering.
He kept manuring.
Let us therefore focus on our responsibility as sowers.
Let the unproductivity of the soil never be blamed on our poor sowing skills.
Do your part faithfully:
Teach well.
Parent well.
Preach with conviction.
Live the Gospel authentically.
So that tomorrow, when fruit appears, or even when it does not, we can say before God:
“Lord, I did my part.”
Saint of the Day: St. Thomas Aquinas
Today we celebrate the Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, priest, philosopher, and one of the greatest theologians in the history of the Church.
Born in 1225 and dying at the young age of 49 in 1274, he devoted his life to:
prayer,
study,
deepening the Christian faith.
He authored monumental works in theology and philosophy and is known as the Angelic Doctor. He is the patron saint of Catholic schools.
St. Thomas pray for us.
God bless you 🙏
Pal Ronnie
Heavily inspired by Fr. Blessed 🙌
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