Receptive Hearts (15th Sunday Ordinary A)

Not every single instance I stood on the pulpit that I was sure and confident about my preaching. There were moments when I felt lousy and seemed unable to connect to people.  On one particular Sunday at the Cathedral of Ipil, I was secretly ashamed of my homily because I felt I did not strike a chord with the congregation. I felt lousy. But the next morning, someone I knew who was usually shy and timid and did not care about having conversation with people approached me. This time she was smiling and she thanked me simply. For what? She told me something I said in the homily yesterday moved her quite deeply! I just nodded and smiled hesitantly; but somehow I sensed her sincerity.

This reminded me that preaching the Word of God is really not about me or my antics. Some effective skills and tricks in public speaking do help of course. But when all is said and done, it is the Word of God that penetrates any receptive heart. Even with my lousiest homily, God’s Word filled a hungry and longing heart.  For as the first reading asserts: “Thus says the Lord: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth… so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void…” (Is. 55:10-11).

The work of evangelization is indeed a lot like sowing seeds on the ground. As the Gospel reading illustrates (Mt. 13:1-9), when the sower went out to sow, some seed fell on the path, some on rocky ground; still some among thorns, but some fell on rich soil and produced much fruit.  The seed is the Word of God. When we evangelize, we sow God’s Word in the hearts of all without discrimination. Not all, of course, are interested. Some are preoccupied with other things. Some have their hearts and minds closed by philosophies and ideologies critical of God and of religions. Some are having doubts. But among all these, there will always be receptive hearts. These are hearts who long for the Word of God, hearts who have been prepared by the grace of God. It is in these hearts that the Word takes root, grows, blossoms and bears much fruit.

I think there are two things here worth our consideration:  Becoming sowers of God’s Word and cultivating the rich soil of our receptive hearts.

Becoming Sowers. The Gospel today invites all of us to become sowers of the Word of God. Evangelization is the mission of the Church. It is our mission. Clergy and laity alike. We are commissioned to proclaim the Good News to the ends of the earth.  Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, invites all members of the Church to embark on this evangelizing mission.  We are to proclaim the Good News to all peoples. And we are to do this with joy and enthusiasm (EG, 10).

We have to become confident sowers. By this, I do not mean we need to become biblical experts before we plant the seed of God’s Word. We just need to trust and acknowledge the truth that even in the world today, there are receptive hearts, hearts that long for true joy.  They are searching with hope, sometimes with anguish (as Pope Francis noted).  This fertile soil awaits the seed of God’s Word. And more importantly, we just need to accept with humility that it is the grace of God that helps hearts to allow the Word that is sown to blossom and bear surprising abundant fruits. 

Our invitation as sowers seems to be of trust then. Just sow the seed of God’s Word and trust that some will fall on fertile soil. Sow the seed at home, for instance. My mother bought two volumes of illustrated Bible long ago. I guess without her being aware, I had read all of them already even before I finished grade school. And there’s no way of accounting now the abundant fruits. Hundredfold perhaps? Sow the seed at school. Once in a sharing among priests, many recounted how their pre-school teacher or the catechist made them memorize the passages, “For God so loved the world….” and “The Lord is my shepherd…”  The fruits again are immeasurable.  Sow the seed of God’s Word in your offices, in the market places, wherever you are and in whatever capacity you have.  The fruit, you will see, is always beyond you. Hundredfold? Sixty or thirtyfold?

Cultivating our Receptive Hearts.  God’s Word, like seed, grows and blossoms only in a fertile soil, the soil of our receptive hearts. With God’s grace, we ought then to cultivate a heart that longs to embrace His word and allow it to blossom. Here’s a simple way anybody can try out:

Stop. Look. Listen.  Stop means having some time to be still, to cease from doing whatever is that which preoccupies much your mind and heart. This is time out from work and other concerns. This is time to be with the Lord. Look is reviewing our day, noticing what’s happening in our life and where God has touched us. Listen is allowing God’s word to enter our minds and hearts as we read the Bible. The daily liturgical reading is a big help. What is the Lord telling us as we read or listen to God’s word?

Pray. This is personal conversation with the Lord, asking for enlightenment and inspiration particularly about His message. We can freely talk to God about what we think and how we feel as we embrace his Word. We ought to beg for His grace to strengthen our commitment to do his will.

Act. Do what you have been inspired to do as revealed in your time with the Lord. Is it to forgive? Or kick a bad habit? To be kind? Or stop an unhealthy affair? To help someone in need? To share the Good News? To spend more quality time with loved ones? Whatever that is, trust that it is bound to produce much fruit.

To end, another confession:  The reason I mustered my courage to share my Sunday reflections through this blog is that someone in a lonely working place away from the family and in a foreign land where even reading the Bible is taboo told me how she looks forward to read the Sunday reflections.  A longing heart!  I may not offer the best of reflections but I’m confident anyway that this whole thing is not about me, this is about God’s word reaching out to the longing of receptive hearts.  

Let us be sowers of God’s Word. There are just as many ways to sow as there are receptive hearts longing for God’s Word.