May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
At the dawn of
creation, the Lord God gave three tasks to man.
The first was to name the animals.
The second was to avoid the forbidden fruit of the forbidden tree, and
the third task, was to till the soil.
The animals were named within a few days, and only a few chapters after
the command not to eat the forbidden fruit our first parents took what was
forbidden and lost what they had been given.
Therefore the only task remaining was to till the soil. From the very beginning, the Lord God invited
us to share in the work of making good soil.
Today we hear the
parable of the sower, and we hear the explanation of this parable from the Lord
Jesus. There is clarity in this
message. Good soil will bear good
fruit. Everything else will bear no
lasting fruit. The seed that is sown is
the powerful and effective Word of God.
It is good seed. If the harvest
is not abundant, it is because of the soil.
So my dear brothers and sisters, our task remains. The Lord invites us to till the soil of our
souls so that he can reap an abundant harvest in us. It is his work. It is his harvest. God invites us to share in the work that he
is doing.
Through the waters of
baptism, God opened the soil and planted the seed of eternal life within each
of us. God himself has done the hardest
work. With the cross of Jesus Christ the
soil of our souls received the seed of the Word of God. With his sacred Body and precious Blood the
Lord Jesus offers us nourishment.
Through the sacrament of reconciliation, the Lord Jesus removes the
stones and protects the seed from the feet that will crush it and the birds
that will steal it. Through the
sacraments of the Church, each of us becomes good soil for the harvest of
eternal life. Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
