If you need to change your actions today, change what you are imitating. All you have to do is simply change your focus. The more you focus on the Word, the more you will imitate God. And when you do things God's way, you will get God's results—peace, joy and blessing all the days of your life!

Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jericho 1:1, 4-10

Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15+17

M atthew 13:1-9 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. (2) And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. (3) And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. (4) And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. (5) Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, (6) but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. (7) Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. (8) Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (9) He who has ears, let him hear."

Meditation by Howie Kalb, S.J.

In our Gospel today Jesus is telling the parable of the “Sower and the Seed” to the crowd. Most of us are quite familiar with the story. The Sower is Christ.  The seed is the Good News. And the soils are the minds and hearts of each of us.

What Jesus is teaching is that his good news is having an effect comparable to the fruit produced in the parable. For all too many who hear the word it produces nothing. The faith of some gets choked out by the brambles of material concerns and interests and so it dies.  For others it never develops because the soil lacks the depth and moisture required for people to practice their faith. For others it is carried away by the birds who dream up manmade religions about what they would like faith to be. The result is agnosticism, atheism and pseudo religions. In these cases the seed dies and there can be no harvest.

In the parable some seed produced fruit 30-, 60- or 100-fold. It seems that even in the good soil the seed sowed produced various quantities of harvest. Although these seeds were all sowed in good ground, owing to the composition of the soil according to the percentage and variety of the elements, some crops do better than others. Soil might have a greater or lesser clay content or sandy concentration. Ground can be more or less alkaline or acidic. These various conditions of the soil can be changed by the skillful farmer who wants to plant wheat or changed in another way by the farmer who wants to plant grapes.

Now the Scriptures with Jesus’ parables continue to live on and nourish believers forever. Today we know the seed is the same Good News and the soil is still the minds and hearts of each of us.  And a good bet is that anyone taking the time to read these reflections has good seed-soil capable of producing a worthwhile harvest.

However, augmenting the analogy of the parable, the challenge might be for us to try to improve the soil of our minds and hearts. Tilling the ground can always enrich it. Just as greater attention when participating in the sacraments and reciting our prayers can deepen our faith. Perhaps there could be further mulching through a more consistent prayer life or charitable outreach to the needy. Or the texture of the soil could be improved by fertilizing it with further Scripture study, some volunteering activity, or in other ways. After improving our seed-soil we might not notice that much difference in the harvest in this life but in the next life we will be happy to learn that our harvest increased 30-, 60- or 100-fold.

Supplementary Reading

Be an Imitator of God

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God - Ephesians 5:1-2

H ave you ever spent time with a small child or baby and had them mimic your every sound or action? To them it's a fun game, but internally they are learning by watching and copying everything you do. They just watch and do the same thing. That's because we are all prewired to be imitators.

Just like little children, we are all still imitators. So many people today end up imitating what they see in the world, on TV, in the news and magazines. But scripture tells us that we are to be imitators of God and follow His example of love.

If you need to change your actions today, change what you are imitating. All you have to do is simply change your focus. The more you focus on the Word, the more you will imitate God. And when you do things God's way, you will get God's results—peace, joy and blessing all the days of your life!

Father God, I choose to put You first place in my life and imitate You. I set aside the things of the world and invite You to search my heart and mind. Give me Your heart of love and let me be an example of Your goodness. In Jesus' Name. Amen.  (Joel & Victoria Osteen)

GOD BLESS US ALL!

O Theos Na Mas Evlogisi!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.

For past gospel meditations, you may visit the following:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=216458741502#!/home.php?sk=mynotes

http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com