THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Sexagesima Sunday

23 February 2025

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends in Christ,

Jesus is the Sower Who sowed good seed. The good seed is the Word of God. The difficulty is not with the Sower or with the seed. The only place that can cause difficulty for the seed is the ground upon which it falls. Our souls are the ground upon which the Word of God falls. The seed is a gift from God (grace), which none of us have merited. We cannot lay claim to the graces of God as if they were our doing or were owed to us. God gives grace to everyone. Some cooperate with this grace, but many do not.

It is tempting to try and place the blame for this rejection of God's graces upon God Himself. Is it not God Who made the stone a stone? The highway a highway? The thorny field a thorny field? And the good ground, good ground? When we think along these lines, forgetting that this is a parable, we miss the whole point and place ourselves among those who have ears but do not hear.

God has given everyone a free will. We are all able to desire and choose. It is the bad use of the free will we have been given that hardens souls and makes them unreceptive to the graces of God. In loving and choosing the material pleasures of this world, we become like highways, and the grace of God is trampled underfoot and carried away by demons. When we come before God in prayer or in the Church but then return to the world and forget God, we make ourselves as rocks where God's grace can germinate, but then it is dried out in the heat of temptations. When we give our hearts to the cares and riches of this world, we make our souls like fields of thorns and weeds that choke and weaken the grace of God within us so that it cannot bear any fruit. When we love God and seek Him above all things, even above ourselves, we make our souls into good ground where the seeds of God's graces can germinate, grow, and produce abundant fruit.

The cultivating of the soil of our souls is in our own hands — it is in the free will that God has given us. What we choose to love and pursue forms the soil of our souls. The cultivation of soil is physically demanding and laborious. Likewise, the cultivation of our souls is spiritually hard and laborious. The birds of the air seek out any seed they can find to eat; it is just that the seed is easily found on the highways because it cannot be buried in the packed and hardened soil. The demons seek out every soul in order to destroy them; souls preoccupied with the things of the world and others, are easy and ready targets for them. The sun beats down on every type of soil; it is just that rocks get hot and dry up everything around them. Trials and tribulations beat down on every soul, but those who are selfish get hot and dry up. Thorns and weeds seek to get a foothold wherever they can, and the cares and riches of this world tempt every soul. When souls love God more than themselves, there is no room for selfishness, worldly concerns, pleasures, or even the cares and riches of this world.

It is within the secret of our hearts and minds that the world is transformed around us. Our environment results from many free-will decisions we and others have made. Things begin within the soul with a love or desire for something; the mind then entertains this desire, and plans are developed to bring our desires to fruition in the material world. The material world that we see has many levels and degrees. In the original state that God created it, it was all good. Many things have gone wrong over the many years that man has put his hand to God's creation. Fertile soil has been exploited, abused, and turned into highways, rocks, and thorny weeds. This is not the fault of the Creator but instead of the human creatures placed over this gift. In the spiritual realm, the same thing has taken place. Innocent souls have been exploited and abused to make them unfit as Temples of the Holy Ghost.

While the first inclination is that we must dig up highways, take out the rocks, pull up the weeds, and soften the soil to receive the seed we wish to sow there, we must realize that we need to change our hearts and minds first. It is not enough to try to change physical things if the thoughts and desires remain and continue exploiting and abusing. The same is true in our souls. It is not enough to try to change our evil actions; we must go further if we genuinely want transformation to occur. We need to look into our hearts and minds. Do we really hate and detest sin? Do we really love God? From our hearts or wills, we enter into our minds or intellect and think and plan modes of action and correction that will be efficacious. When all the interior work has been completed, the exterior work of mortification and penance can truly take place and make us genuinely receptive (inwardly and outwardly) to the graces of God.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!