Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas  Hebrews 10:11-18 Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 4 Mark 4:1-20

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer

Today’s parable is a familiar one – sowing the seed of the word and seeing the seed fall in different places with different results.  I have always visualized this parable in my own gardening – results are sometimes spotty, no matter what efforts I take.

But I re-read this parable this time after reflecting on a prayer from Fr. Jack Zuercher, SJ.  His prayer focuses on the progression of a relationship with God that moves through awareness to gratitude, eliciting joy, leading to being in love with God.  His prayer is “Good and Gracious God – thank you for the gift of life.  Thank you for the gift of my unique life.  Thank you for the gift of my life set in this day.  Thank you for the gift of my life set in this moment.”  Being in the moment, being aware of God’s presence in my every breath, leads me to a much closer relationship and a more loving relationship with God.

So how does this link to the parable?  I have always thought of the parable in terms of a growing season – the sower goes out in (around here) spring and sows the seeds once.  Perhaps if there is time and the need a second sowing can be made.  But generally it is a once a season event to sow seeds.  But this time when I reflected on the message, it seemed to me that the sowing by God is constant – every moment of every day is a sowing opportunity for God to sow and us to receive the Word.  The seed comes to us in many forms – poverty, homelessness, injustice, war, disease, frustrations with colleagues, slights by spouses and children, rudenesses by people we encounter on the street.

Since the sowing takes place constantly, there are times in my life when I am like the brambled ground or the rocky path, and there are times when the birds take the seed before it even has a chance to settle on me.  There also are times when I am like the rich loamy soil and I am more receptive, and prepared to be fertile and to help the Word grow.  There are times when I can act on injustice, can relieve poverty, help heal the sick, help bring peace.  There are times when I can treat unkindness with kindness, rudeness with politeness, pain with soothing.  There also are other times when I am like a rocky path or a brambled patch of ground – unable, unwilling, or not disposed to receive seeds and yield a good harvest.

By being aware of where I am at this moment in my life, as rocky path or brambled ground, or as rich loam, I can better receive the seeds that God sows in every moment.  By building up my soil, through prayer, good works, good attitudes, good habits, I increase the times when I am a fertile receptor of the Word.   

And so my prayer for today is for the grace to build up my soil, to be aware of the constant seeding that God sows, to respond to those seeds with receptiveness, and to increase the yield from my harvest.