Openness to the word of God

Jer. 1:1.4-10, Mt. 13:1-9. In today’s first reading, the prophet Jeremiah attributes His call to God’s care for him, even before his birth. Surrendering to providence, Jeremiah glimpsed that he had been “a prophet to the nations,” a hope he passed on to future generations. Jeremiah tries to use his youth and inexperience as a way out, but God informed him that he has been called even before he was born. God will empower Jeremiah with the word that must be spoken to the people to whom God wants the message preached. For those who are open to God’s calling, God will provide all the hope, strength, and wherewithal to speak His word.

In today’s Gospel, the different kinds of soil refer to different kinds of human response to God’s message. We are reminded that although God’s word is powerful it needs to meet with positive response from us if it is to be effective. We have to open ourselves to the word if it is to bear fruit. The parable identifies certain blocks to opening ourselves to the Lord’s word. One is the lack of understanding; we need to know who Jesus is and what He has done and said if we are to respond to Him. Another block is our tendency to keep the Lord at arm’s length, so that His word never takes really deep root in us. A third block is the way we immersed in anxieties and the pleasures of life so that they become our primary reality. In His interpretation of the parable of the sower Jesus shows a realistic grasp of the obstacles within and around us to His presence and word, obstacles which He has to overcome. However, that realistic picture should not lead us to discouragement. The message of the Gospels as a whole is that the Lord’s persistence is stronger than those obstacles. When on one occasion Jesus’ disciples asked Him the rather despairing question, “Who can be saved?” Jesus replied: “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

May the Lord grant us His steadfast love and bring us to everlasting life! Amen!! Have a great day!!!