23.07.25 Berani Mendengarkan dan Tumbuh

Wednesday 16th week in ordinary time "Mt 13:1-9" Jesus said: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear." "He who has ears, let him hear." Jesus said that many times. He wasn't talking about the actual visible ears but about hearing God's voice, understanding His Word and following It. For Jesus, 'hearing' and 'obeying' God's voice come together. The seed is His Word. Some hear It but soon forget about It or the thorns of sin 'choke them' and never give fruit. To give fruit we need the courage to hear Him and do what He wants. Reason moved Kimberly Hahn, a Presbyterian mother, to become a Catholic, but her heart resisted with all its might. One day her father asked her: "Kimberly, do you pray the prayer I say every day? Do you say: "Lord, I will go where you want me to go, I will do what you want me to do, I will say what you want me to say, and I will give up what you want me to give up?" She explained that she didn't dare to say it for fear of having to become a Catholic. "Kimberly" he replied, "You do not tell the Lord where you want or do not want to go … If you cannot recite this prayer, then ask God for the grace to say it, until you finally have the strength to say it out loud. Open your heart to him: you can trust Him." For 30 days she prayed: 'Lord, give me the grace to say this prayer.' Finally she managed to say it and everything changed. "My heart was thumping" she writes, "Now I was free to study and understand, to begin to examine things once again, but this time, with a sense of joy. Very well, Lord, I have realised that these were not the plans for my life, but that Your plans are better for me. What do You want to do with my heart? In my life? In our family?" It is then that the seed can start to give fruit. Let us ask Our Mother to be able to say that prayer, to listen to God's voice and obey His Will.