Saturday, September 19 – Cultivate and Care for

Preparatory Prayer (to place myself in God’s presence)

How much I love You, Jesus. Thank You for being so good. Thank You for having created and redeemed me out of love. Thank You because You continue to sow the seed of grace in my soul, without tiring. I believe and trust that this moment of prayer will guide me to grow abundantly in love for others.

 

Gospel of the Day (to guide your meditation)

From the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 8:4-15

At that time, a large crowd had gathered around Jesus, and as He was passing through towns, others joined Him. Then He told them this parable:

“A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, and when they grew, they withered because they lacked moisture. Others fell among thorns, and as they grew, they were choked out. Still others fell on good soil, grew, and produced a hundredfold.” When He had said this, He called out: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Then His disciples asked Him, “What does this parable mean?” And He replied, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God; but to others, only in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. The meaning of this parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who hear the word, but then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe or be saved. The ones on rocky ground are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy, but they have no root; they believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away. The ones among thorns are those who hear the word, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not bear fruit. The ones on good soil are those who hear the word, retain it in a good and honest heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.”

Word of the Lord.

 

Reflect on what God is saying to you in the Gospel (we suggest you read what the Pope said about this)

“In the Gospel, we just heard how Jesus, the Teacher, was teaching the crowd and the small group of disciples, adapting to their capacity for understanding. He did so with parables, like that of the sower (Lk 8:4-15). The Lord was always flexible in His way of teaching. In a way that everyone could understand. Jesus did not seek to ‘teach as a scholar.’ On the contrary, He wants to reach the heart of man, his intelligence, his life, so that it bears fruit.

The parable of the sower speaks to us about cultivation. It shows us the types of soil, the types of sowing, the types of fruit, and the relationship that is generated among them. Even from Genesis, God whispers this invitation to man: cultivate and care for.

He not only gives life, He gives the earth, creation. He not only gives a partner and countless possibilities. He also makes an invitation, gives a mission. He invites us to be part of His creative work and says: cultivate! I give you the seeds, the earth, the water, the sun, I give you your hands and those of your brothers. There it is, it is also yours. It is a gift, a grace, an offering. It is not something acquired, bought. It precedes us and will follow us.” (Pope Francis, July 8, 2015).

 

Dialogue with Christ

This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare to speak with much love to the One who loves you.

 

Purpose

Set a personal goal, what? The one that involves the most love… or, if you believe it is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.

I will look at my life with more faith and a new hope, trusting that God continually sows in the most common circumstances of my daily activity. I will be attentive to see His intervention in at least one event of my day today… and I will thank Him for it.

 

“God straightens absolutely all things for His benefit, so that even those who stray and go beyond limits, are made to progress in virtue, because they become more humble and experienced.”

(Saint Augustine, On Conversion and Grace, no. 30)