(Audio)
Hear the parable of the sower.
We want to provide rich soil for the seeds generously sown by the sower. Rich soil is soil dedicated to the purpose of receiving the seed. But compared to other types of ground this can feel empty or useless. Well trod paths of worldly habits are not good places for seed. Yet effort must be invested into the ground that would receive the seed. Rocks must be removed. Thorns must be avoided. But all this is for something that happens below ground that is hard to see.
And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (see Mark 4:26-29).
It is almost as though what we are called to present is a profound emptiness, one which we hold sacred, which we allow nothing other than God to enter.
Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth! (see Psalm 46:10).
Jesus will himself give us the grace of good soil, if we ask him. He will help us be sure there is nothing above preventing the seed from breaking forth into our lives and nothing below preventing its roots from spreading throughout our being.
Jesus is the shepherd after the heart of the Father. He sends shepherds into the world so that the faithful can bear fruit. He helps us forget the things of the past and welcome and become open to the presence of the LORD in our midst.
They will in those days no longer say,
“The ark of the covenant of the LORD!”
They will no longer think of it, or remember it,
or miss it, or make another.
It is important for us that we avail ourselves of the graces of the most wise and prudent shepherds that we can find, those who share the heart of Jesus. There are indeed other kinds of shepherds out there, shepherds to be avoided.
Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? (see Ezekiel 34:2).
Without shepherds who are concerned for the sheep we risk facing the wolves. The shepherds are part of God's plan for preparing the soil for seed. They are part of the way that the grace of rich soil is given. Are our shepherds helping us to protect the space within us so that God and God alone can fill it? It isn't always easy to find shepherds who truly care for the welfare of the sheep. But God wants us to have such shepherds and so we should pray to find them.
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
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