A Heart that Is Fertile and Fruitful: God's Will for Us

In today's first reading, Isaiah 55: 10-11,  the Lord tells us through the prophet that "[j]ust as from the heavens the rain and s now come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and  fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from  my mouth;  my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end fore which I sent it." 

God is a humble God Who works with us.  God waits for our cooperation!   God sends His word to us just as He sends rain and snow to nourish the ground so that whatever seeds we plant for our physical well-being have a chance to come to fruition. The seed of the Word, which God sends to nourish our spirit-self, also needs fertile soil, a heart prepared in such a way that the seed of God's word can take root and bear fruit that will last for all eternity: love, justice, truth, forgiveness, generosity, fidelity,  peace, and joy.

What bars my heart from being open and ready to receive God's Word? The "soil" of my heart may be too rocky and thus the seed does not take root. I may not have allowed God to water it, staying too busy, to involved in things I consider more important than taking time for solitude. I may be so enamored by the things which the world offers and which the world says I must have to be happy that I do not take time for things that really bring joy and happiness to the soul: being faithful in my marriage or in my religious or priestly life, being generous with giving time and attention to the ones---my spouse or my children or grandchildren, my fellow religious or fellow priests, one's parishioners--to whom I have committed my heart by my marriage vows or vows of religious or priestly profession.  I may be so bowed down by worries and anxieties--problems I am trying to resolve without calling upon the Lord--that the "soil" of my heart chokes off the Word of God and or blocks graces that God "rains" down from heaven to assist us in doing His will!

Lord, may I turn to You, knowing that You wait for me and that in Your hands are all I need to live a fruitful life: a life of love and peace, a life of self-sacrificing love for the sake of others' well-being.s

Being Fertile and Fruitful

In  today's first reading, Isaiah 55: 10-11, the Lord reminds us that "[j]ust as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but it shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it."

As a parent, imagine that each instruction that you give to your children bears fruit, that is,  it does not return to you void but accomplishes the good for which you intended it. Imagine, also that, because of your guidance--the words of wisdom you speak to them-- you see your children grow in grace and wisdom, in strength to do what is right, especially when peers are pressuring them to make choices that will bring them harm!  Your words, as stated in the Gospel of today, Matthew 13: 1-23,  "fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold." And you are truly proud of you sons and daughters, your grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Now, apply this to your relationship with God. God instructs you every day, sending His Word to you through the Spirit who dwells within you, through the Scriptures read at a Sunday liturgy and explained in the priest's homily, or in your reflection on a cherished spiritual resource which we read each day.  The word "fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold." And God is truly proud of you!

Barrenness Transformed into Fertility

Today’s first reading, Genesis 16: 10-12, relates the story of Sarai’s treatment of Hagar, her servant whom she gave to her husband Abram to bear her some sons, as she herself  was barren.  Recall that God has promised Abram that he would have descendants too numerous to count.  He makes the same promise to pregnant Hagar when she flees out into the wilderness to get away from Sarai’s abusive, jealous behavior.  God’s messenger intervenes, meets Hagar in the wilderness, comforts her, promises her an abundance, listens to her groans/complaints, instructs her on naming her unborn child and sends her back to being a servant to Sarai for the time being. God takes charge. God will bring His promises to fulfillment. That is not ours to do.  In God’s time, good will prevail, His promises will come to be. Likewise, both “Israelites” and “Ishmaelites” will be blessed.  All nations will be blessed. Yet, how often do we forget the fact that God has no favorites, as Paul tells us in Romans 2:11. 

Who am I in this Scripture passage? Sarai who ingeniously, following the law, gives Hagar, her servant to Abram, to bear the fruit that she was incapable of bearing? Like Sarai, do I look for ways to transform a barren situation into a fertile one? When I become the “fruitful” one, do I, like Hagar, look down on others less fortunate than I and, like Sarai, become jealous of those who are successful in ways that I am not?  Do I, like Hagar, flee into the wilderness  in an attempt to escape God’s plan for me when the going gets rougher than I thought it would? Who do I meet in my wildernesses? Do I recognize God’s messengers in my difficult moments or do I keep fleeing? Do I, like Hagar, brings my pain to the Lord, trusting that God will be listening?

Fertility: God's Promise to Abraham

 In today’s Gospel, John 8: 51-59, when Jesus proclaimed that anyone who keeps His word will never see death,  the Jews asked Jesus:  “Who do you make yourself out to be?”  The people also shouted at him, saying “Now we are sure that you are possessed.”    We live in a world where people, by their lack of faith and by living immoral or amoral lives,  also question who Jesus is. Another example of doubting who Jesus is  when people scoff at the Catholic belief that Jesus is present in the host following the consecration at a Catholic Mass, even though Jesus, at the Last Supper, “took some bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body which will be given for you; do this as a memorial of me.’  He did the same with the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you’”  (Luke 22: 19-20). 

The Old Covenant is referred to in today’s first reading, Gen. 17:3-9,  when God said to Abraham: “My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations….I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you….I will…be your God and the God of your descendants after you,” He was speaking  ultimately  to us.  One of the kings that stemmed from Abraham was Jesus, whose lineage is traced back to King David. Jesus, the Son of God made man,  is our King.   His Kingdom has no end. We are incorporated into that Kingdom in our baptism. Each of us is “rendered exceedingly fertile,” by Jesus’ obedience unto death. Our own fertility comes to full fruition in eternity as proclaimed by Jesus when He said: “…anyone who keeps His word will never see death.”  We bear abundant fruit here on earth when we, by grace, are obedient to the will of our Father as Jesus was. 

Lord, out of your infinite glory, “may…[you] give …[us] the power [fertility] through …[your] Spirit for …[our] hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in …[our] hearts through faith, and then planted in love and built on love, …[we] will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, …[we] are filled with the utter fullness of God.” Yes, may we become as fertile as Christ was fertile!

Barrenness Transformed into Fruitfulness

In both readings of today's liturgy, Judges 13: 2-7, 24-25a and Lk 1: 5-25, an angel appears to announce that two couple will bear a child: Manoah and his barren wife and Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth, also barren and way beyond child-bearing age.  Both children, Samson and John, will be prepared to play a significant role in salvation history. Samson will deliver the Israelites from the military power of the Philistines. John the Baptist will prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah.  The Spirit of the Lord "stirred" Samson, who was consecrated in the womb. John was "filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother's womb".

Both the barrenness and the fruitfulness are gifts from the Lord and will reveal God's power at work in those who believe and in those who do not believe.  The wife of Manoah and her husband and Elizabeth believe in the angel's announcement. Zachariah does not. "How am I to know what you are talking about when my wife is barren and unable, at this point in her life, to conceive a child?"  Neither our barrenness nor our lack of faith stop God from accomplishing our salvation or the work He plans to accomplish through us. Without divine intervention, we remain barren.  With divine intervention we bear fruit. All is through the Holy Spirit, either stirring us or filling us!  Blessed be the name of our God!

What in me is barren and in need of being "stirred" up or "filled up"with God's Spirit? What in me, through the Spirit, is bearing fruit?

Dying and Rising with Christ

Yesterday we had the Gospel of the sower going out to sow some seeds (Mt 13: 1-9).  In today’s first reading we have Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, 4: 7-15, in which he speaks to us about “carrying about in…[our bodies] the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested…” Both readings are significantly linked.  Most seeds, to bear fruit, need to be buried, need to die to one form of being and rise to another, lest they return to the dust of the earth without bearing the fruit it contains within it.  That is true of many of the seeds planted in our souls by the Word of God or by God speaking and acting in the events and relationships of a given day.  To rise to new life in Jesus, a dying often needs to occur. What do I mean?  In 2 Cor: 4: 7-15, St. Paul speaks about experiences that afflict us.  Perhaps our pride is stressed. Possibly, we strain to be kind when treated unkindly.  When I reflected upon the parable of the sower, I wrote the following prayer, which you might find helpful in your struggles to die and rise with Christ when “life throws you a curve ball,” so to speak:

 Lord, may I, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, not let the “birds” of anger, selfishness and pride eat the Word You are sowing on the soil of my heart.  May my heart be porous, not hardened by hatred, selfishness and pride, by cynicism and hopelessness, by narcissistic behaviors and judgmental attitudes.   May the seed not be scorched by these weaknesses either.  Rather, may the seed fall on rich soil, soil made fertile by humility and faith in You.

What is your prayer and hopes as you battle with life’s difficult moments?

Chosen and Appointed by God Himself to Do Great Things

Today is the feast of St. Matthias. He was chosen by lot to replace Judas and to join the other eleven apostles to be a witness to Jesus’ resurrection.  You and I, also, have been chosen to be witnesses to Jesus’ triumph over death.  We were chosen, not by lot, but directly by Jesus. He says to us in today’s Gospel:  “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain…” (Jn 15:6).

 Envision Jesus making this choice! It is you and I He is choosing! It is you and I whom He is appointing to assume the mission of bearing fruit that will never rotten, never disintegrate, never die!  What kind of fruit does not ever deteriorate and turn to rot but blooms into eternal life? The answer, obviously, is love.  The same Spirit whereby Jesus rose from the death is the same  Spirit Who empowers us to love in the face of hatred, to work for peace in the face of violence, to work toward forgiveness and reconciliation in the face of injustices and hurts we endure in this life. “That’s impossible,” you might argue. However,  Jesus returned to heaven, to His Father, in order to send to us the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit at work in us Who enables to do even greater things than Jesus did during his short 33 years here on this earth.  Jesus Himself makes that promise in John 14: 12-14: “In all truth I tell you, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works,  because I am going to the Father….I shall ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth….[H]e is with you, he is in you” (Jn 14: 12-13, 15-17).

And you and I, from conception , have been chosen to receive the Paraclete, to be a witness to the Resurrection of Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, by the works we do—“even greater works” than Jesus did here on earth! Do we believe this truth? Do we believe Jesus? Or do our mediocre, apathetic lives proclaim our unbelief?