T here are different ways of accepting God's word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly. There is the prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to the things of God.

Friday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time

1 Timothy 6:13-16

Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5

L uke 8:4-15 And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: (5) "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. (6) And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. (7) And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. (8) And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." As he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (9) And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, (10) he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. (11) Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. (12) The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. (13) And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while  and in time of temptation fall away. (14) And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

Meditation by Don Schwager

H ow good are you at listening, especially for the word of God? God is always ready to speak to each of us and to give us understanding of his word.  Jesus' parable of the sower is aimed at the hearers of his word. There are different ways of accepting God's word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly. There is the prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to the things of God. Then there is the shallow hearer who fails to think things out or think them through; such a person lacks spiritual depth. They may initially respond with an emotional fervor; but when it wears off their mind wanders to something else.

Another type of hearer is the person who has many interests or cares, but who lacks the ability to hear or comprehend what is truly important.  Such a person is for ever too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God's word. He or she may work so hard that they are too tired to even think of anything else but their work. Then there is the one whose mind is open. Such a person is at all times willing to listen and to learn. He or she is never too proud or too busy to learn. They listen in order to understand. God gives grace to those who hunger for his word that they may understand his will and have the strength to live according to it. Do you hunger for God's word?

"Lord Jesus, faith in your word is the way to wisdom, and to ponder your divine plan is to grow in the truth. Open my eyes to your deeds, and my ears to the sound of your call, that I may understand your will for my life and live according to it."

Supplementary Reading

A PlASTIC BAG foR THE fEAST

The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not ready to come. – Matthew 22:8

B ecause we love to eat, we Filipinos love feasts.

We like the array of delicious food on the table.

We even “prepare” for the feast. I know of some people who starve themselves the whole day so they can eat a lot during the celebration.

We also like to chat while eating. We bring stories with us to make the dining experience more interesting and enjoyable. Some of us even bring a plastic bag for take-home food.

Yes, we like food. We like feasts. Jesus invites us every single day to the grandest feast in the universe.

He invites us to receive Him in the Eucharist — the greatest feast of all.

Will you go?

Will you go prepared?

God has a banquet especially for you. Arun Gogna

REFLECTION:

Go and feast with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist today.

Dear Lord, thank You for inviting me to Your feast today. I celebrate with You, my God.