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Called To Be Good Soils

Third Wednesday of the Ordinary Time, Cycle C, Year 1
 

IN TODAY'S GOSPEL (Mark 4:1-20), the Lord tells the parable of the sower, an approach he used when teaching those who are still outside the Kingdom--But to those outside, everything comes in parables (v. 11b). He tells of the soil conditions that the seed of the Word may fall into--the path soil (v. 4); the rocky ground (v. 5); the thorny ground (v. 7), and; the good soil (v. 8).
 
Reflecting on these soils shows us that all the first three types of soils are pure human conditions empty of the grace of God. In a way of speaking, the Lord tells us how our soul would be like when it is not nourished by the love of God. It will be unstable and vulnerable to open attacks of the Enemy (the path soil). It will be full of unfortunate bumps and hurdles that mean anything to use other than making our lives frustrating (the rocky ground). It will be littered with painful and unhealed wounds as we struggle to survive in a downtrodden life (the thorny ground). In all these conditions of the soul, we starve for the love of God, the love of an infinitely loving Father; someone who loves us despite the falls and failures in our lives. The soul unable to experience the love of God will be lived like these unfortunate souls.
 
Sometimes we think that these empty and unfruitful soils of our soil had been ordained for us to be. We may think that there is no escaping it. If our lot will be a thorny ground; then so be it for the rest of our lives. But that's not what the Lord meant when telling this tale. Believing so would be negating the very reason the Son of God, the messenger and the embodiment of the Father's love, for coming into this world. He came to save us from these unproductive and depressing soils in our souls. He wants to save us from the infertile grounds that Evil had created in our soul for so many years. He wants us to hear the message of the Father: "Son, you are not meant to be any of these unloved soils."
 
Jesus came to tell us that the Father ordained us to be the good oil where His Word will find a home, and grow, and multiply. He calls us to be the good soil He wants us to be since the time we were born. That's the reason why the very core of the Lord's message to mankind was the unfathomable and unending love of the Father for mankind--For God so loved the world that He sent His Only Son. He sent His Son to die, knowing that from the blood that flows from his side, the unloved soil will start experiencing Love and turn by the grace of God into the good soil. The blood of the Lord makes the soil fertile again with the love of God, and all the graces that flow through it.
 
The Lord simply invites us to respond to the Father's call of love, and seek to find and follow the will of the Father like a son prodigal son running back home to the embrace of his Father.
 
FATHER, thank you for the never-ending love that you have poured upon my sinful soul; a love that I am even too limited to fully comprehend. Thank you for opening to us the door to our heavenly Home through the sacrifice of Your Only Son, our Lord, and Big Brother Jesus Christ.
 
LORD, thank you for the unreserved obedience that you showed to us in following the will of the Father, no matter what, nor where that will might lead, even to your death on the Cross. Thank you for building for us the channel through which the love of God reaches us through you. And above anything else, thank you for showing to us once again the very path that will lead us back Home. Amen.  
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