SCRIPTURE
LUKE 8:4-8
parable of the sower.
When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to him, he spoke in a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold.” After saying this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
TAKE AND RECEIVE MY WORD, EMBRACE IT!
JESUS EXPLAINS PARABLE
Those on the path are the ones who have heard the word, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of trial. As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit. But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.
REFLECTION
The world, the flesh, and the devil, all temptations, all obstacles on our spiritual journey home to our Father. The devil is quite the adversary. Look at what Satan did to our first parents. Eat of this fruit and you will be like God. All through scripture and today we have examples of man making himself God, choosing his authority over God’s. Man filling himself up with the gifts of God’s creation until we no longer think about God or his need for God. Man has still made nothing from nothing!
Some hear the word of God but that seed has no root, no discipline, no life of prayer, soon God’s voice is silenced. Yet they carry on in this life frustrated, estranged, desperate…they seek out love and fulfillment in all the wrong places, in wealth, in pleasure and self-promotion only to fall back into despair. Our hearts are restless until they rest in God. St. Augustine They are barren trees that bear no fruit.
Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. John 15:4-6
The seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance. Let us persevere, pray that our gift of faith be nourished, grow, and bear much fruit for us and others we meet.
SCRIPTURE
LUKE 8:22-25
calming of a storm at sea
One day he got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us cross to the other side of the lake.” So they set sail. While they were sailing Jesus fell asleep. A squall blew over the lake, and they were taking in water and were in danger.
They came and woke him saying, “Master, master, we are perishing!” He awakened, rebuked the wind and the waves, and they subsided and there was a calm.
Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?” But they were filled with awe and amazed and said to one another, “Who then is this, who commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?”
BE STILL AND KNOW I AM GOD
REFLECTION
In his human nature, Jesus was tired. He walked all day, preached all day, cured people all day, put up with his disciples all day…So tired He could fall asleep in the back of a rocking boat. He had no anxieties or fears about what might happen. He is God after all.
It was his disciples that panicked. They forgot who was in the boat with them. Do we welcome Jesus into our rocky boats, into our dark clouds. storms and waves of uncertainty?….If not, Why not?
The disciples woke Jesus up from his deep slumber. Jesus rebuked the winds and storm. A great calm resulted. Jesus can calm our storms, too, if we ask. After all, Jesus is God. He can bring order to our chaos.
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth—and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters Genesis 1:1-2 Continue to read Creation story to see the order God brought to the chaos.
Jesus asked his disciples, “Where is your faith?” They didn’t understand but were filled with awe, “Who then is this, who commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?” Jesus reveals once more His divine nature to his diciples and to us. Only God commands the sea! Jesus is human and Divine! Resist the secular world that wants to take away Jesus’ Divinity!
SCRIPTURE
LUKE 8:42-48
the woman with a hemorrhage.
When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him….a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years, who had spent her whole livelihood on doctors and was unable to be cured by anyone, came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. Immediately her bleeding stopped.
Jesus then asked, “Who touched me?” While all were denying it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are pushing and pressing in upon you.” But Jesus said, “Someone has touched me; for I know that power has gone out from me.”
When the woman realized that she had not escaped notice, she came forward trembling. Falling down before him, she explained in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been healed immediately. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
IF I BUT TOUCH THE HEM OF HIS GARMENT
REFLECTION
When I look at the woman in the picture above, what do I see? I see a woman of humility and faith reaching out to Jesus on her knees. She is praying isn’t she? Do I pray like that in humility, in faith, in perseverance? “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
This woman has been suffering for years and years. She did all she could that was humanly possible, spent all her money on doctors and still suffering. “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” St. Augustine of Hippo How long do we wait to bring God into our suffering?
As soon as the woman touched Jesus’ cloak she was healed. Not only did she feel the change but Jesus felt his power go out to someone. He cries out, “Who touched me!” Jesus knows when we approach Him. He knows our hearts and desires.
Jesus may not answer in the way we want but He blesses us and remains present to us in whatever we are going through. When we call on Jesus, we don’t go it alone.
The woman came forward, trembling, to confess she was the one who received His power. Somehow she knew Jesus was speaking about her, though the crowd was pressing in on Jesus. Do we recognize in our daily lives Jesus’ intervention in our lives? How I would love to hear Jesus say, your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND
ENJOY!
One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You’d walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you Never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.”