And I say the parables are challenging because they demand, in a sense, some personal engagement, a decision, usually to change our thoughts or behaviors.
In the parable of the good Samaritan, for example, the listener has a choice. Who do I want to be in this story? Who does God want me to be? The self-occupied Levitical priest who passes by on the other side of the road when he glimpses a man in need? Or the good Samaritan who comes to the aid of the stranger? Hearing this parable, you have a choice.
In the parable where Jesus likens the kingdom of God to the pearl of great price, the listener, again has a choice. Will I pursue the kingdom of God, the values of God as the most important thing in my life, or not? Will I allow God to order my priorities, or not?
In one of my favorite parables where Jesus talks about the different types of soil, where the seed of the Gospel is spread over those different types of soil, right?, the listener has a choice. Will I make my mind and heart receptive to the truth of God or not? Will I clear away the thorns of my earthly attractions and distractions or not?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the “parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word [of God]? What use has he made of the talents he has received?”
We fittingly reflect upon this passage on this Sexagesima Sunday, just 10 days now until the beginning of Lent.
The seed being planted on these different types of soils can represent our different responses to the Church’s call to conversion during Lent.
During Lent, for many the call to conversion is like the seed sown on the path. The call to conversion, the call to seek conversion during Lent is in one ear and out the other. No preparation is made. No planning. No intention to seek conversion. And so the seed isn't allowed to take root. The call to conversion isn't internalized.
During Lent, the call to conversion for some is planted in rocky ground. Some begin Lent with great enthusiasm. You plan out what you are going to fast from, when you are to pray, what your Lenten almsgiving is going to look like. But when things get rocky, when Lent becomes difficult, perhaps after a poor nights sleep, or the plans of the day being altered, the Lenten observances are abandoned and forgotten for the duration of the season.
For some, the call to Lenten conversion is planted among many thorns. Again, your Lenten observances are planned out, but you have some serious sins, some serious attachments that you are unwilling to cut down, and so those serious sins choke out the positive growth.
That’s why these days of pre-Lenten preparation are so important. You need to make a plan for Lent. You need to till the rocky soil and prepare for those difficult days when it will be difficult for you to keep your Lenten observances. And you need to identify the thorns, the sinful habits and get rid of them.
For by this parable, the Lord desires that we cooperate with his grace, so that our souls may be good soil, that will bear real spiritual fruit for Lent.
Don’t be afraid of Lenten practices that will really challenge you. Reflect upon and repeat the words of St. Paul in the epistle today, “God’s grace is sufficient, God’s power is made perfect” in my human weakness. In what must be the longest sunday epistle, we hear of all of the hardships Paul endured for the GOspel. His endurance and his reliance of grace should inspire us to endure worthy penances this Lent. You won’t starve to death if you fast on bread and water a few times this Lent. You won’t die of boredom if you give up video games and Netflix. You won’t become homeless if you are generous with almsgiving. The spiritual fruit gained from being generous with God are of incomparable value to these material things.
Allow the call to penance to take deep root in your heart, mind, and soul, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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