295. Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

Meditations no. 587 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Grace always produces fruit, if the soul receives it with good dispositions.

IN THE first reading of today’s Mass, the prophet Isaiah announces: “As rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, make it fruitful, make it sprout, and give seed to the sower and bread to whom he is to eat; so will the word that proceeds from my mouth be: he will not return to an empty place, but will do what I will and carry out the mission I have entrusted to him.

Since the Word became incarnate to save us, grace comes to us not only through the Word of God, but also through the sacraments. The prophet compares it to the rain from heaven, which falls abundantly on the earth, and assures us that it will not return empty, but will bear fruit. On the Lord’s side, nothing is lacking, but it is necessary that the earth - our soul - receive that water until it is soaked; He puts everything, but he respects freedom and counts on our good dispositions not to spoil his gifts.

In the Gospel we contemplate this same reality with another image. Seeing the crowd gathered around him, Jesus speaks in parables, which he will then explain alone to the disciples. Referring to something that those people had seen so many times, he tells them: the sower went out to sow. God does not spare the seed and soows it generously, hoping for a bountiful harvest. However, part of it fell by the side of the road and the birds came and ate it: it remained on the surface, on the hard earth in which the furrow had not been opened, and it was immediately food for the birds, which made it disappear.

To what is sown by the roadside, Jesus explains, what happens to everyone who hears the word of the Kingdom and does not understand, the Evil One comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart. This action of Satan, who tears good doctrine from souls, is a constant of all times, more pronounced in certain circumstances. Our Father warned: do not forget the particular effort that the devil makes in these times to make the faithful separate themselves from the faith and from good Christian morals. And he added: My children, be healed in health and do not condescend. The devil is prowling tamquam leo rugiens circuit (1 Pt 5:8): like a restless lion, and he waits for you to make the slightest concession, to make the assault on the soul: on the integrity of your faith, on the delicacy of your purity, on detachment from yourselves and from earthly goods, on the love of small things.

The seed of grace reaches all men, but there are those who live closed in on themselves, apart from God, and grace does not make a dent in them. For this reason, we must ask the Lord that hearts, beginning with our own, may be opened to the gifts of the Holy Spirit: utinam hodie vocem eius audiatis: nolite obdurare corda vestra, may you hear his voice today: do not want to harden your hearts! so that what Jesus tells us, repeating the words of Isaiah, does not happen: “With your ear you will hear, but you will not understand; with your eyes you will see, but you will not see.” For the hearts of this people have been dulled, their ears have been hardened, and their eyes have been closed.

Everything is important when it comes to safeguarding the integrity of the faith and of the Christian life, in oneself and in others. There are no unimportant things in this area; especially when Satan does not cease in his efforts to uproot the good seed from the hearts of men, with the complicity of many people. For this reason, in the face of this diabolical work, the attitude of those who, knowing their personal deficiencies, feel the desire that souls - like the good soil - be ready to receive the saving Truth, is imposed.

To provide the means to correspond to grace.

THE contrary environment must impel us to become aware that God’s grace is abundant, and that the Lord wants to count on our cooperation: we are God’s collaborators. So that no one who lies motionless can say: hominem non habeo; I have no one to help me get up to reach the water that gives life.

We cannot believe ourselves to be better than others, but we must feel the particular responsibility of the mission that has been entrusted to us: we must be on guard, vigilant, we must be retaining walls, in the face of that violent flood of murky waters that threaten to flood everything, trying to turn the fertile fields into a filthy quagmire.

Another part of the grain fell on stony ground, where there was not much soil, and it sprouted soon because the soil was not deep; but when the sun rose, it withered and withered, because it had no root. St. Athanasius comments: “Jesus scatters the seed abundantly, but the quantity of fruit depends on the nature of the soil. And so, where the soil is stony, the seed withers easily; not because of its own weakness, but because of the soil, because the seed has in itself the vital force, but the earth, having no depth, is sterile. If the soil does not retain moisture, the sun’s rays penetrate with greater force and dry up the seed, not because of its defect, but because of the soil.” This is the attitude of those who receive the word of God with joy; it opens a new horizon for them, they see the way and would like to follow these new lights; but, at the same time, they are not able to leave their comfort. An unintentional will is yours, as long as you do not decisively remove the occasion.” “Don’t try to deceive yourself by telling me that you are weak. You are … cowardly, which is not the same thing.

In order for the Word of God to bear fruit in souls, it must be clothed with the mantle of human virtues that give consistency to Christian life. The lack of a foundation of generosity, strength, loyalty, and so many other human virtues explains why many Christians, in the face of the setbacks of life or the difficulties of the environment - the stones that are in the field of the world - end up becoming discouraged and perhaps even neglecting the practice of their faith. In this regard, our Founder pointed out the existence of so many who call themselves Christians, because they have been baptized and receive other sacraments, but who show themselves to be disloyal, liars, insincere, arrogant. … And they fall suddenly. They look like stars that shine for a moment in the sky and, suddenly, fall irretrievably.

Our will must respond to what St. Josemaría wrote in addressing the Paraclete: Come, O Holy Spirit, enlighten my understanding, that I may know your commands: strengthen my heart against the snares of the enemy: inflame my will. … I have heard your voice, and I do not want to harden and resist, saying: later … , tomorrow … Now, lest tomorrow fail me.

O Spirit of truth and wisdom, Spirit of understanding and counsel, Spirit of joy and peace: I want what you want, I want because you want, I want as you want, I want as you want, I want when you want… .

Daily struggle against lukewarmness to bear the fruit that God expects.

“HE who sows the truth, Jesus, the Only-begotten Son of God, passed through the fields scattering at the command of the Father not only the seed, but the dense teachings of his marvelous doctrine. Certainly, those seeds were destined to produce marvellous works.” However, another part of the sowing fell among thorns; thorns grew and choked it. And Jesus explains it: what is sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the seduction of riches choke the word and it remains sterile.

Even if our will is sincere, and we must try to keep it burning every day, rectifying the intention, we will always find obstacles that oppose the action of grace - the thorns in the parable - against which we will have to fight. Fomes peccati is a universal reality, but a very sad one, with which it is necessary to struggle; and in order to fight it is necessary to perceive sin as an evil - the only true evil - to know one’s weakness and not to foolishly put ourselves on dangerous occasions. It is not a question of isolating ourselves, but of being delicately vigilant, and firmly opposing the subtle sensuality that wants to induce habituation, to the honesty of evil or to a cowardly and harmful tolerance; in a word, to lukewarmness.

May the Lord never address to us those complaints that the Apocalypse collects: I have not found your works perfect before my God; I have against you that you have lost the charity you had at the beginning. God counts on our collaboration in sowing, in caring for the field, and also at the time of harvesting. He invites us to raise our gaze to contemplate the wheat, ready for harvest, which spreads out without limits before our eyes. He wants us not only to participate in the harvest, but also to pray without ceasing and to seek many people who will contribute to this work, so that it may be perpetuated until the end of time.

Along with the first decision to banish what separates us from the Lord, other dispositions are required so that the soul may be like the good soil. This is what Jesus teaches at the end of the parable: what is sown in good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, and bears fruit and produces a hundredfold, or sixty or thirtyfold. Each of our days can be marked by a new conversion, in which, with the help of grace, we strive to tear out every last sprout of lukewarmness, for from lack of generosity to lukewarmness there is only one step.

This requires daily personal effort, in order to respond effectively, with love, to the outpouring of divine love. That is our struggle: each one does his part what he can, that the rest is done by God (…). And these are our weapons: prayer and the war of each one with himself. Otherwise, we would do nothing. If we stopped praying, if we did not fight, we would be ineffective.

The desire for souls is the exact and adequate manifestation of our correspondence to the gifts that God has given us, it is the sure sign of true zeal; and, on the contrary, lukewarmness withers the apostolate, for the lukewarm apostle is the great enemy of souls. Our Father gives us an effective recipe to keep the apostolic spirit always alive: concrete plans, not from Saturday to Saturday, from today to tomorrow, and from now to later; because it is not tolerable that you waste time in “your foolishness”, when there are so many souls waiting for you.

The mercy of God, who wants us to bring his word to many souls, will come to protect our weakness. If we do not cease in this humble and trusting effort, if we do not abandon prayer or ascetic struggle, we will end up being contemplatives, souls who feed on God. The Lord’s help will be abundant, like the rain on the field, so that each one may yield: thirty to one, sixty to one and one hundred to one, according to the measure of the grace granted to him and according to the generosity of the personal response.

Let us go to the Mother of God and our Mother. From her lips we hear: do whatever He tells you. We will never lack His help to listen to the Word of God - the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our souls - and to put it into practice in ordinary life.