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January 26, 2022“For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.” - Paul's Second Letter to Timothy
Paul’s letter to Timothy expresses what sincere love between friends is when they work together to spread Jesus’ message. In this letter, there is a spirit of joy, faith, peace, even excitement in remembering each other. Friendship doesn’t mean we preach to each other. Friendship is the respect, the kindness we show each other.
In today’s gospel, we listen to one of Jesus’ parables. We remember that when Jesus tells us a parable, it is not just for entertainment. No, Jesus’ parable picks us up, shakes us, and puts us back down again. Hopefully, we are different. Our attitude, our disposition gradually changes, because the gospel is always about change. Those of us who are not farmers or who do not cultivate gardens may find these images difficult to put into daily life. So, let’s take a look at some possibilities of how the seeds (God’s word) can grow and multiply in our soil of life.
The practical and beautiful part of God’s invitation to each one of us does not depend on our physical appearance, our yearly income, our faith tradition, or our idiosyncrasies. All God desires is our response and a willingness to follow the path given us in Scripture. Jesus knows this, so he gives us an allegory to help us understand how to respond to God’s invitation.
Our hearts and souls are the ground that we cultivate. However, if we allow our hearts and senses to be overwhelmed with gossip or we refuse to see the good in others—beginning with those closest to us--then this negativity will eat up all the good that we could be doing. We sit by and let the birds eat up all our goodness.
If our hearts are grounded in stiff, hard soil, we will not even hear God’s invitation to us. Yet, if we allow ourselves to listen to God in Scripture, in the people who love us and want only our good, then gradually our hearts will soften. We will hear the message for rightful and grace laden living. The thorns in our hearts are those stubborn refusals to listen to and accept what and whom we don’t like even though they embody goodness. Maybe we stubbornly oppose a change in the mediocre way we live.
All of us are capable to have hearts of rich soil! Periodically, we quiet our minds, listen to God in our hearts, then re-assess our thoughts, words, and actions of the day. Through this parable, Jesus is shaking us out of our stubbornness, our apathy. But what a quiet, wonderful experience of accepting God’s love in our daily thoughts, words, actions!
“I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have….” These are Paul’s words to us also in his letter to Timothy. We have those gifts and fruits from the sacraments. If we silence our phones, hearts, and mouths for a while each day, we will put enough fertilizer in our soil, so that we will live the commandments, the beatitudes, and the works of mercy. Could we not then change ourselves and society for the good?
