Thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost Season
​Gospel Luke 8:1-15

​Reflection 1

Sowing the Word of God…Despite the Results
This parable reveals that we must strive to be like that “good soil” in that we must receive the Word of God into our souls, allowing it to be nurtured so that it may grow in abundance.
But this parable reveals something more that could easily be missed.  It reveals the simple fact that the sower, in order to plant at least some seed in good and fertile soil, must act.  He must act by going forth spreading seed in abundance.  As he does this, he must not become disheartened if the majority of the seed he has sown fails to reach that good soil.  The path, the rocky ground, and the thorny ground all are places where seed is sown but ultimately dies.  Only one of the four places identified in this parable produces growth.

We are called to act
Jesus is the Divine Sower and His Word is the Seed. Therefore, we should realize that we are also called to act in His person by sowing the seed of His Word in our own lives.  Just as He is willing to sow with the realization that not every seed will produce fruit, so also we must be ready and willing to accept this same fact.  

Effort and Commitment
One lesson we must take from this parable is that the spreading of the Gospel requires effort and commitment on our part.  We must be willing to toil and labour for the Gospel despite whether or not people are willing to receive it.  And we must not allow ourselves to become discouraged if the results are not what we had hoped for.

Prayer
Help me Lord not to become too focused on the results of the effort I give; rather, help me to entrust those results only to You and to Your divine providence. Ref: catholic-daily-reflections
 
A thought for the week-To Live For You
Let your truth sink deeply into our hearts to change our lives, so that we may learn to live for you and for others. Gwen Simon


Reflection 2

The good heart
Luke gives us one of the longest and most important of Jesus’ teachings – the Parable of the sower and the four types of Soils. The image of seed sown reflects the reality of life at that time but is also applicable to our lives now.
The central message in this gospel is that even though some seeds that the sower plants will wither and die, some will find fertile soil and flourish. The Word won't grow in everyone; but it will grow in those who receive it eagerly and wholeheartedly.
Throughout our lives, God plants seeds. But, He does not force the seed of faith to grow. He does not make us respond. Instead, day after day, we have the opportunity and the choice to respond to God’s call. Many people hear the word but if they don’t plant the message deep down, there is no roots and can easily die.
 
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”. Galatians 5:22
We humbly pray and ask God to make the soil of our hearts fertile so that the seed of his love can be planted deep within us and bear the fruit of the Spirit in our life and in the life of others.
 
"May Our Lord be able to use us so that, placed as we are at all the cross-roads of the world - and at the same time placed in God - we become salt, leaven and light. Yes, you are to be in God, to enlighten, to give flavour, to produce growth and new life. But don't forget that we are not the source of this light: we only reflect it." (St. Jose Maria Escriva, Friends of God, 250)