Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr

Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

God gives us everything we need to succeed as Christians. He offers us guidance and graces. He supplies us all our good thoughts, words, and works. All He asks from us in return is a spirit of humble servitude and a faithful, hopeful, and loving life spent sowing the spiritual seeds He gives us. If we do this, then our acts of charity and mercy will sustain not only our souls, but the souls of many others. They shall multiply and increase the harvest of good and righteous fruits. God wants us to be active in our faith... to scatter it wherever we find good and fertile ground so that devotion and fidelity to God will grow in the hearts and minds of all those whom we are graced to meet.

In what ways do we thank God for the graces He has given us? How can we use these gifts and talents to increase the harvest of His righteousness? Where is God asking us to scatter the seeds of our faith?

O Lord, thank you for the graces you have given us and the harvest have entrusted to our hands.

Amen.

Twenty-Fourth Saturday of Ordinary Time

But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.

Jesus outlines what we all must do in order to bear good fruit in our lives. We must not only hear the word, but also embrace it with generous and good hearts. This means that we listen not only to the commandments of God the Father, but also the teachings of the Son and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Then, having listened to these things we should put them into practice generously and in a spirit of charity toward all. When we do this, we may discover that we are opposed, persecuted, and mocked by others and the world, but this should not discourage us. Instead, we should bear our fruit through perseverance. If we do this, then we shall be rewarded with a treasure house of merits in heaven and an eternal life to enjoy them with our Beloved God, the Holy Trinity.

Are we listening to the word of God? Have we embraced the Good News with generous and good hearts? What can we do to prepare ourselves to persevere in this life and bear good fruit?

O Lord, help our hearts to find rich soil of your graces and thrive in the light of your love and the waters of your mercy.

Amen.

Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

"He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear."

We are all called to be good seeds in the world and bear fruit for God and His children. However, we will not be unopposed. The weeds of the wicked will seek to strangle us and keep us from being spiritually fruitful, but we must resist their persecutions and temptations. We will have no one to blame if we fall into sin and fail to produce good fruit. It is up to us to open our hearts to the Sun of Truth and allow the cleansing rains of God’s Divine Mercy to nourish us with grace.

What can we do to keep ourselves from becoming weeds? How can we grow in faith, hope, and love?  What can we do to bear good fruits in our lives?

O Lord, let our righteousness shine like the sun.

Amen.

Sixteenth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

"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 thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear."

God continually tries to sow His Word in our hearts. It is up to us to make sure the seed of faith falls on good ground. If we do nothing to prepare our hearts to receive the Good News, then the seed will be eaten up before it gets a chance to grow, killed when our faith is tested, or strangled by our worldly worries. But if we enrich the soil of our souls with virtues, then we will produce good fruit. We will not only grow in faith, but bud in hope and bloom with charity. Our every thought, word, and work will yield a hundred, sixty, or thirtyfold. We shall live life abundantly and help others do the same.

What do we do to prepare our souls to receive God’s Word? How can we help others to prepare themselves? Are we enriching our lives with the virtues of faith, hope, and charity, or are we allowing our doubts, fears, and selfish interests to destroy our lives?

O Lord, cultivate my soul with your heavenly virtues and so that I can accept the seed of faith and yield a good harvest.

Amen.

Third Wednesday of Ordinary Time

The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no roots; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.

God constantly scatters the seeds of His Word onto the soil of our souls. How we receive His message is up to us. Some of us allow Satan to take away our belief in God and His Divine Truths. Others of us harden our hearts to God’s calling so the seeds of faith never take root in us. Still more of us are in the midst of the thorns of anxiety, fear, doubt, temptation, and the like and let our worldly worries choke the good we could and should do. A few of us are like rich soil, we hear the word, accept it, and go forth into the world to bear fruit in God’s Holy Name. However, during our lives we are not always the same type of soil. Some days we are fruitful, but other days we let the thorns of the world strangle the good we could have done. When our souls are becoming thorny, rocky, or trodden by sin, we should seek help from our family, friends, and neighbors, but also from the Church and its sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Communion. These two sacraments restore and sustain us. Reconciliation tills the soil of our soil, breaking up its hardness and weeding out those temptations and sins that choke our faith. This prepares us to not only receive the Word of God, but also the Bread of Life and Wine of Salvation. Together, these sacraments replenish our souls and make them ready to bear good fruit again and again.

How do we receive God’s Word into our lives? How can we prepare the soil of our souls to accept God’s Divine Grace so we can bear good fruit? Do we make use of the sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Communion to maintain and sustain our faith?

O Lord, we hear and accept your word and with your help we will bear much fruit.

Amen.

Seventeenth Tuesday of Ordinary Time

He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.

Jesus sows the good seed in the world. He is the one from which all good things come and if we want a share in his kingdom, then we must be willing to allow him to sow us where he needs us to be. Jesus cannot force us to land on good earth and to grow in faith, hope, and love. We must allow him to bring us to those places where we can flourish in the faith. We do this by praying and discerning God’s Will for us. Most importantly we should make our lives a daily offering to God. Along the way, we will meet the weeds of the world and be challenged, berated, and persecuted for doing what is right. However, we must stand firm in the truth so that we will be able to shine like the sun and share in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Who are the weeds in our lives? Do we show them God’s love no matter what they do to us? Are we willing to let Jesus sow us where he needs us?

O Lord, sow us where you need us most.

Amen.

Seventeenth Monday of Ordinary Time

The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.

The seed of faith needs to be sown in our hearts. Without planting it, we will have nothing to show for our efforts on this earth. But how do we do this? First, we must accept the seed of faith. We cannot sow what we do not have. So we must be willing to trust in the gospel message and in the model of living that Jesus gives us. Secondly, we have to cultivate this seed through good words and works. As we grow in the habit of loving God and our brothers and sisters in Christ, our graces will branch out and provide the shade of hope for our family, friends, and neighbors. We, in a sense, make present the kingdom of God through our acts of faith, hope, and love. From the tiny seed of faith, we grow into large bushes wherein all of God’s children can rest.

Are we cultivating a lifestyle that will help us grow in God’s graces? What do we do to nurture our virtues and prune our vices? Do we allow others to rest in the shade of our love?

O Lord, cultivate the seed of our faith so that one day we might become a dwelling place for all your children.

Amen.

Third Friday of Ordinary Time

This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.

God sowed the seeds of His Kingdom at the beginning of time and we grow without a need for understanding why or how we do so. Some of us will die before producing a yield, others of us will go a long time without a grain of produce and then near the end of our lives we will bear fruits, and then there are the faithful few who will yield a hundred fold. We do not know God’s plan for us, but we seeds of life have one purpose to fulfill and that is to grow in faith, hope, and love. When we do this we ripen as Disciples of Christ and God will harvest us into His Kingdom.

What have we done in our lives to grow in the gospel? Do we trust in God’s plan for us? Are we willing to do His Will without hesitation?

O Lord, help me grow and yield much fruit.

Amen.