In viewing our world today, I often marvel at the depth of our amazing God’s love.  His patience is so far beyond anything I could ever imagine.  I genuinely want to be obedient to my Lord and Savior.  Yet, as hard as I try , it just seems that sinful thoughts, words and actions continue to find a way back into my life.  I certainly do not deserve agape love and grace,  but that is what I continue to receive from my loving God.  I truly do not understand how the God of the universe could possibly care about a sinner like me, but I see His hand at work every single day in the little challenges that I am constantly facing.  These unmistakable “miracles from God” simply take my breath away.

So this little glimpse into my life seems to fit precisely into what God has for us all in today’s messages.  The prophet Jeremiah certainly was aware of his people’s propensity to sin, to rebel against the Lord.  In our first Reading, we find our loving Father bringing His people back to their promised land.  They obviously did not deserve it, but God showered them with His love right when, where and how they needed it.  Not only did He promise to appoint wise shepherd leaders to guide them, but He also promised to make them fruitful.  Jeremiah’s reference to the Lord’s throne in Jerusalem points to the promise of  a New Jerusalem described in the 21st  & 22nd chapters of Revelation – a world where hardhearted wickedness no longer exists.  An eternal promise of hope, something far better than anything I could possibly imagine.

The Responsorial Psalm further reinforces this promise of our loving God carefully shepherding the Jewish people back to their homeland.  God knows about their suffering and is fulfilling His promise of His loving presence in their lives.  He once again meets their specific needs, even though they do not deserve such amazing GRACE. 

The Alleluia from the Gospel of Luke adds to this picture the concept of a glorious harvest produced through perseverance.  That unwavering commitment enables us to maintain our focus upon our God and Savior - no matter the trials we will face as we seek to be a part of His harvest. 

In today’s Gospel found in the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus is addressing a large crowd.  He began with the parable of the Sower.   This profound story addresses the challenges we face in our struggle to maintain our focus upon our Savior.  Jesus knows how easy it is for us to allow the world’s ways to displace our commitment to God.  He understands that we likely will not even recognize the forces working against our faith. First off, we must ask ourselves if we have ears to hear and eyes to see.  Are we able to recognize those forces working against our faith?  We all desire a life filled with the “good soil” - a life that points to Jesus, but to achieve that goal we will need a deep seeded commitment to God.  It is only through an unwavering faith that we  are able to pursue and embrace God’s direction for our life.  Jesus knows all about our weaknesses.  His concern lies with the condition of our heart.  To be Sowers for Christ, we must first understand and guard against the challenges to our faith.  To become the good soil that Christ can use we must be able to recognize and effectively explain our own sanctification journey.  This parable points out that we will not always be successful; the seeds He sows through us will not always produce the results we can see.   We must continue sowing.  We are called not to just hear and understand, but also to bear fruit.  Jesus is asking us to not only be part of the planting, but also to be part of the joyous harvest.  It is only through His agape love that He can orchestrate such a harvest through us.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your truly incredible love and seemingly endless patience.  You care about each of us and shower us with your GRACE.  Give us your eyes to see and ears to hear the cries of this world.  Use each of us as we reach out and touch the lives of those you have placed within our small personal world.  Help us to be more like you each and every moment of our lives.  In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen