"Break Up for Yourself a New Field" (Hosea 10:12)

In today’s first reading, Hosea 10: 1-3, 7-8, 12, Hosea says to us:  “Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety; break up for yourself a new field.”   Every spring farmers plow the fields, breaking up the hard soil, softening it with fertilizer, removing rocks; in short preparing the soil for planting and providing a rich harvest.

The prophet Hosea is challenging us to be spiritual gardeners, asking that we  soften our hearts, break up the hardness of our hearts, prepare our hearts to receive the seeds of the Word of God and bear abundant fruit that will last into eternity.  What hardens the soil of our hearts: attitudes or behaviors governed by selfishness or egoism, pride or arrogance, fear or worry, deceit or cheating,  gluttony or greediness, hatred or loathing, prejudice or injustice. We also toughen our hearts by staying away from the sacraments and by frantic activity that pushes God out of our minds and hearts.  Obviously our hearts are softened and made ready to bear everlasting fruits by the very opposite kinds of behaviors and attitudes: altruism or self-sacrifice for the sake of others or for the sake of the common good,  humility or modesty, courage or valor, temperance or self-control, justice or integrity, truthfulness or faithfulness, love or compassionate tenderness, openness or sincerity, forgiveness of self and others,  reception of the sacraments, and spending quiet time with the Lord: reflecting on the Scriptures, doing spiritual reading, and spending time in quiet prayer.

Am I softening or hardening my heart?