Fr Joe has compiled this short reflection on today\u2019s Gospel. <\/p>\n
We now enter that point in St Matthew\u2019s Gospel when Jesus told His followers many things in parables. Today\u2019s parable will be very familiar to us, the sower going out to sow the seed. Parables are simply stories, but stories with a truth, a teaching and a challenge to those who hear them.<\/p>\n
The sower, sows the seed, the word of God. This is done indiscriminately and cast everywhere. The different types of ground, the edge of the path, patches of rock, among thorns and rich soil represents the different responses to God\u2019s word.<\/p>\n
Having listened to this parable, we are then invited in all honestly to reflect on what best is a reflection of me. What fruit, what good works arise from my response to God\u2019s word? Does God\u2019s word stimulate a greater interest in Him? \u00a0Does a greater desire to listen to God and spend more time with Him grow steadily each day? Do I long to come back for more from God in order to know Him in a deeper and intimate way?<\/p>\n
Who is God for me? Is he someone I call on just when I need something? Is God a duty I fulfil on a Sunday, out of obligation or fear of committing a mortal\/serious sin? Am I a minimalist in my relationship with Him?<\/p>\n
This parable helps us address were we really stand in relationship with God. But the Good News is that we can move with God\u2019s help and grace, to producing the thirty, the sixty and the hundredfold, that rich soil, producing a marvellous crop.<\/p>\n
Mother Angelica<\/span> (<\/span>1923-2016)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhere most men work for degrees after their names, we work for one before our names: ‘St.’ It’s a much more difficult degree to attain. It takes a lifetime, and you don’t get your diploma until you’re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0St Th\u00e9r\u00e8se de Lisieux\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>(1873-1897)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThen, overcome by joy, I cried, Jesus, my love. At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and then I will be all things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fr Joe has compiled this short reflection on today\u2019s Gospel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","post","publish","author-ryan-black","has-more-link","post-3129","format-standard","category-parish-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p85OtW-Ot","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3130,"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3129\/revisions\/3130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stthomasneilston.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}