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For your part, then, apply all your zeal to the reading of Scripture, with faith and the good will that are pleasing to God. It is not enough for you to knock and seek. What is needed above all in order to obtain the understanding of divine matters is prayer.
- Origen, "Letter to Gregory Thaumaturgus,
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(Prayer opens us to knowledge of God, which complements our knowledge about God. How will you study and pray today?) |
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Ex 16:1-5, 9-15; Ps 78:18-19,
23-28 Mt 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 thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to
hear." USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
“One day a farmer went out...” —Matthew 13:4
The kingdom of God is like breaking ground. The ground may be rock, a footpath (Mt 13:4), or just rocky (Mt 13:5). In our post-Christian, anti-Christian culture of death, groundbreaking is a major task. We can break open the hardest ground and hardest hearts by obeying the Lord. Often He calls us to pray and fast, prophesy, and suffer redemptively. These are principal ways in which the Lord lets us join in
groundbreaking.
The kingdom of God involves not only breaking ground but also clearing ground of the thorns, which are worldly desires hindering our growth in the Lord (see Mt 13:7). We can help clear ground by repenting of compromising with the ways of the world (see Mt 13:22). In this way, we crucify our “flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal 5:24) and help others do the
same. In God’s kingdom, we work not only with types and conditions of ground; we also work with fruit. We can increase our fruitfulness from thirtyfold or sixtyfold to a hundredfold (Mt 13:8), and help others do the same by yielding completely to the Holy Spirit (see Gal 5:22-23, 25). Farmers for Jesus,
break ground, clear ground, and increase the yield of fruit. Farm for Jesus. Prayer: Father, may I put in a good day’s work each day on Your farm (see 1 Cor 3:8-9). Promise: “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.” —Ex
16:4 Presentation Ministries
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-Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Two, Encountering the Risen Christ Chapter 2: The Personal, Historical
Christ - Selected quotes Obviously, if relationship with Jesus is of the highest priority in your life, then spending time with him will come a little easier than if you’re just not sure where you are with him. But now here’s the irony, and it’s something I’ve seen confirmed in
spiritual direction many, many times: if one takes the time to communicate with Jesus, he will eventually become the priority he wants to be in our relationships. That just always seems to happen. Jesus, being who he is, just can’t seem to be held down as a person of secondary importance in our lives once we actually give him more time and attention. We gladly, willingly, come to regard our relationship with him as not simply significant, but decisive.
This brings us to the nitty-gritty issue of just how, exactly, one communicates with Jesus? And the answer again is very basic: the same way we communicate with other human beings. The difference, here, is that we don’t see him with our eyes or hear him with our ears, but that doesn’t matter. He communicates his presence to us through his Word just as surely as if he was standing before
us speaking. There are even times when we sense him speaking directly to our thoughts and feelings, or through images stirred up within. Jesus knows what human communication and relationship is like, how it works, and what is required in order for us to develop a relationship with him, and he’s more than willing to meet us halfway. In fact, it seems that this is one of the main reasons for the Incarnation of the Word/Second Person of the Trinity in the Person of the human
Jesus: that we humans might have a human connection with the invisible God. Paperback and eBook versions
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