15th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
If
the seed is the Word of God – our faith – and the soil is the
human person who receives and nurtures the seed, then we can ask
ourselves: what kind of soil am I? The
essence of this question is fundamental to any examination of
conscience. But, let's say, you want to go deeper; you want to
explore a way of growing in holiness that goes beyond a quick survey
of “how I'm doing.” If that's the case, then the question you
want to ask yourself is: how do I become kind of soil I
need to be? This question
assumes you know what kind of soil you are now, and it prompts you to
consider what needs to
change in your life and how
to make those changes. Keep in mind – the goal here is to become
the sort of soil that gives the seed of the Word the best chance of
taking root in your life and producing good fruit. What this looks
like might not be what the world thinks good soil looks like; or what
your family or friends think good soil look like; or even what you
think it should look like. That's just part of the surprise and drama
of striving for a life of holiness! Sometimes the most disgusting mud
grows the most beautiful flowers.
So,
you're feeling stuck, thinking that your growth in holiness has
stalled. Maybe you are experiencing more anxiety lately. Your prayer
life is blah. And God
seems farther away everyday. In other words, you are shallow, dry,
and thorny soil. It's time to ask yourself: how do I become
kind of soil I need to be to nurture the Word and produce good fruit?
The first step is a merciless
inventory of your sins. Sin is a deliberate act of disobedience; it's
a willful, shouted NO! To God that prevents you from receiving His
gifts. To be clear: God never stops blessing us. But we can and do
stop receiving those blessings. And the principal way we refuse His
gifts is through sin. Once that inventory is complete, it's time to
head to the confessional and receive His forgiveness through
absolution. Think of this step as pulling the weeds from your life,
cutting back the thorns, and digging up the stones in your way. If
the seed of the Word is going to find a place in your life, it needs
space – He needs space. And He's already given you and me
everything we need to help us make that space as large and as
obstacle-free as we can get it. BUT He's not going to do the work for
us. He'll work along with us,
but not instead of us.
Once
the weeds are pulled and the thorns are burned in the confessional,
we can proceed to step two: spreading high-quality fertilizer. What's
the best fertilizer for growing in holiness? Small acts of charity,
inconspicuous moments where you enact the Good for the Other for no
other reason than the Good of the Other. Think of the Widow and her
mite. She gives out of her poverty not her surplus. She gives
everything she has, not just the little leftover when her bills are
paid. These acts of charity don't have to be about money. You can pay
attention to someone who's used to being ignored. You can sit with
someone who's sick; visit someone who has no one; write letters to
prisoners; help out at a homeless shelter or food bank; volunteer
with the St. Vincent de Paul Society; tutor kids struggling in
school. The object here is to get outside yourself, to move beyond
that constantly nagging MeMeMe that demands satisfaction but never
seems to be satisfied. It's about coming to see the Christ in
yourself by seeing him in others. This is a potent fertilizer for the
cultivation of the proper soil of holiness. Every saint in heaven
mastered the production and distribution of these small acts of
charity, and they are there now, waiting for you and me to call on
them for their help.
Now
that you've cleared your field and fertilized it with charity, it's
time to welcome the Sower and his seeds. Two acts best welcome him:
gratitude and surrender. Together these two increase your harvest a
hundredfold. Gratitude is an expression of humility. You acknowledge
that everything you have and are is a gift from God. Nothing you have
or are is truly your own. It all comes from Him. This attitude
inoculates you against the spiritual disease of entitlement – “I'm
owed. I deserve. My life is about Me.” Surrender is a form of
gratitude. It sets the heart and mind to receive God's blessings w/o
expectation. To receive the seed of the Word as God Himself sows it.
Surrender leaves what is God's in God's hands, and it all belongs to
God, including you and me. By turning your life to gratitude and
surrender, you open yourself to becoming the richest possible soil
for growing in holiness. When you close yourself to gratitude and
surrender, you cultivate Pride and nothing grows in the sterile dust
of Pride but resentment, anger, envy, and violence. What kind of soil
do you need to become to produce good fruit? Soil rich in charity,
gratitude, surrender, and hope. Nothing less can nurture God's Word.
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