The Pope, Billy Graham, and Oral Roberts were in a three-way plane crash over the Pacific Ocean. They all died and went to heaven together.
“Oh, this is terrible,” exclaims St. Peter. “I know you guys think we summoned you here, but this is just one of those coincidences that happen. Since we weren’t expecting you, your quarters just aren’t ready… We can’t take you in and we can’t send you back….”
Then he got an idea. He picked up the phone, “Lucifer, this is St. Peter. Hey, I got these three guys up here. They’re ours, but we weren’t expecting them, and we have to fix the place up for them. I was hoping you could put them up for a while. It’ll only be a few of days. What do you say?” Reluctantly, the Devil agreed.
However, two days later… St. Peter received a phone call.
“Pete, this is Lucifer. Hey, you have to come get these guys. This Pope fellow is forgiving everybody, the Graham guy is saving everybody, and Oral Roberts has raised enough money to buy air conditioning!”
Boy, is it hot or what? Do you think we could use some rain? Do you think this hard, dry soil can use some rain?
“Thus says the Lord: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow comes and does not return until they have watered the earth…so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” Isa 55.10-11
Today we have the familiar parable of the sower and the seed. (Mt 13.11-23)
We know that the seed sown by the sower is the Word of God, right? There seems to be a problem with the soil. The word that is sown on the path is stolen by the devil. The word that is sown in shallow soil only lasts for a short while and bears no fruit when trials and tribulation comes. The word sown in the thorny soil is choked by worldly anxieties and desires for riches. But the word sown in rich, good soil yields a rich harvest.
So, how is your soil? Is it hard? Dry? Rocky? full of thorns? Shallow? or deep and soft?
Pride makes our hearts hard. Lust makes our hearts hard. Selfishness and unforgiveness makes our hearts hard. Not caring for other people makes our hearts hard. Getting our values from this world and not from the word of God makes our hearts hard. Do you mind if I soften up your hearts a few minutes?
(hold up the rosary)
When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, he said to his disciples, “My heart is sorrowful unto death, watch and pray with me. Jesus prayed “Father, if it be possible, take this cup away from me, but not my will but thine be done.” Do we understand the sorrow in Jesus’ heart? Have we entered into HIS pain? They stripped Jesus and scourged him and tore his skin off of his back, yet he was scourged for our iniquities, punished for our sins, by his stripes we are healed. They crowned Jesus with thorns and mocked him. We mock Jesus when we call him Lord and then go about living our lives our way and disobey our God and King.
The cross that Jesus carried crushed him into the ground and ground him like grain and crushed him like grapes. Sometimes we should consider helping Jesus with his cross by carrying our cross. Our cross and his cross is the same cross. Jesus the Son of God did not deem equality with God as something to grasp, so he emptied himself of his divinity and became a human being. On the cross, he emptied himself of his humanity and poured out all his blood, he couldn’t give any more than he gave. He gave himself totally for us. He poured out his blood and poured out his love.
How do we respond to this kind of selfless love that comes from God above? How do we respond to a God who suffers for us? How do we respond to the suffering of others? We sow in tears, the word of God is sown in tears, yet we reap in joy.
How does it feel to know that the unknowable, unsearchable, transcendent and totally other God loves you so much? God give us joy to balance our affliction. If we enter into life with God, then we will discover the joy of life. Jesus was a man of joy! A man full of life and love! He spent three years training his disciples and from this band of brothers and sisters came the power of human beings to change the world! God’s word was made flesh and dwelt among us and it accomplished the will of the Father. God’s word has been accomplishing his will ever since.
I met a man who, at age 74, lost half of his leg to amputation. I asked him “Are you upset that you lost your leg?” He answered “God gave me that leg for 74 years, no, I’m not upset.” I met a woman who was battling cancer. She cried “God has give me too much on my plate!” Yet, a few minutes later she said “I’ve learned to accept each day as a gift from God.” Her soul was a beautiful shiny, gleaming soul. Are you listening? Do you understand?
Creation groans for God’s word. Our hearts groan for God to complete his work in us. We long for God, like the dear longs for streams of living water, like the dry land longs for rain. Our trials and tribulations are nothing compared to what God has prepared for those who love him. We need to love God and our neighbor; anything less than this is vanity and chasing after wind. Blessed are you if you hear God’s word and keep it. Amen.
Reflection | evan | 
August 8, 2011 10:01 pm | 
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