Entrance Antiphon:  The Lord became my protector.  He brought me out to a place of freedom; he saved me because he delighted in me.

Go no further in your reading please.  Re-read this antiphon.  Imagine, “…he delighted in me.”  And you… And all of us. According to the Thesaurus, we tickle his fancy; we enchant her; she rejoices in us!

Whom in your life do you delight?  Who delights you?  Recall one such experience and cherish the memory.  And if nothing quickly comes to mind, give it time; something will.  How do you feel when you are with this person and can take the time to relish the experience?  For me, my friend Gigi immediately comes to mind; an extraordinary friend who had a deep capacity to love.  When she looked at you, you felt you were THE only person in the world.  She loves us all from “the other side” now.  And the funny thing: after she died and some of us got to talking, we discovered that she gave each of this that same kind of “undivided” attention or so we thought.  Just like God perhaps…

Today’s Gospel is a familiar one:  the sower looking for hospitable soil in which to plant his seed.  What kind of soil do we offer?  Are we the path that makes no room at all for the seed?  Or rocky? Or full of brambles?  Or ready to welcome the seed that God, who delights in us, wishes to plant?  

What is needed to ready the “soil” of our being?  A dose of generosity perhaps, or trust?  Do we need to make room?  Rid our ground of negativity, addiction, or regrets?  Be done with past hurts?  Deep resentments?

Here is where the God who saved us comes in, the very one who delights in us.