The Seed of God's Word Sown in my Heart: Is It Bearing Fruit

In today's Gospel, Matthew 13:18-23, Jesus explains the parable of the sower.  Jesus is basically asking me the following questions:  Am I the "seed sown on the path," that is one who does not understand the Word of God and thus Satan "comes and steals away what was sown" in my heart? Or am I the one who gets all excited when I hear the word of God but in whom the word does not take root and thus when hardship hits I "immediately fall away" and thus the seed bears no fruit? Or, yet still,  is the soil of my heart so flooded with thorns, "worldly anxiety and the lure of riches [that] choke the word"  and thus no fruit is born either?

To understand the Word of God, I need to call upon the Holy Spirit to open my mind and heart and grace me with the strength to practice the discipline approach of spending regular time reflecting upon the Word of God in personal and familial prayer time as well in Liturgical, communal celebrations. If I engage in these substantive practises of seeking God in the Scriptures and praying for the grace to understand Jesus' message, my faith will be strengthened. My grip on God's Word will not a superficial, weak grip whereby when hardships occur I "immediately fall away," or abandon by faith journey but a hold that sustains me when "storms" strike!

Furthermore, I prepare the soil of my heart to be receptive to the seed of God's Word when I do not choke off this seed by "worldly anxieties and the lure of riches," by compulsive accumulation of unneeded material things and worldly pleasures, by excessive gluttonous eating and out-of-control drinking and drugging myself (my drug of choice may be sex or running from one relationship to another and another or seeking this and that and another thing to distract myself from the difficulties, the pain, the challenges of what may be going on in my life.

Lord, help me make choices that will deepen my relationship with You, increase my faithfulness to the vows I have made, whether marriage, religious life or priesthood, and become the best person you intend me to become.