“Good soil is a heart reserved for God that produces abundant love.” I’m not sure who first spoke these words, but I have come to know they are true.
In the Gospel regarding the parable of the sower and the seed, the Church invites us to take a soil sample of our hearts. In the Gospel, Jesus presents to us four types of soil on which the seed scattered by God, God’s own Word, falls. And each of us needs to ask, in light of Jesus’ words and in His real presence here at Mass, what type of soil am I?
Two things are absolutely crucial in farming: good seed and good soil. In the Gospel the seed Jesus talks about is God’s Word, heard in Sacred Scripture and in prayer, and ultimately Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, capable of living in us through grace. Therefore we know there is no problem with the seed. The seed is perfect.
Our heart is the soil. It must be open to accepting the Word of God (the seed) and be nurtured to produce good fruit (which is love). Some times our heart, like any soil, needs some added things to keep it good and ready to receive the good seed. Like the farmer who uses water, nutrients and the like, we have the Eucharist and the sacraments as well as daily prayer to keep our heart reserved for God.
Today, let us not only evaluate the condition of our heart but make it a more fitting dwelling place for God. Let us use every possible means to provide the “good soil” for God’s Word to take root and flourish in action. Then our love will be abundant and evident in our words and deeds!