The seeds that fell on rich soil.

"Some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.  Whoever has ears ought to hear.” (Matthew 13: 8 - 9).

Sunday 12th July 2020, 15th Week in Ordinary Time.

Today the Church presents us a key parable in the Parable Discourse of the teachings of Jesus.
A sower goes out to sow and encounters four types of soil:

#1 Pathway.
#2 Rocky ground.
#3 Thorny Shrub.
#4 Rich soil.

The Responsorial Psalm 65 reveals how God carefully prepares the ground for sowing:

"You [God] have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it. God’s watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain.  Drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods, softening it with showers,
blessing its yield."

God cannot be blamed for the hardness of heart found in soils that failed. It is a mystery that out of the four types of soil, only one produced a harvest. The harvest of a hundred, sixty, thirtyfold depend on the understanding of the message of the Gospel and the commitment to it.

Why did Jesus say à propos the Parable of the Sower? "Whoever has ears ought to hear.” Faith comes from hearing the word of God. In the first Reading from Isaiah 55, God promises "My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it."
God has promised to be merciful to everyone who seeks Him. That promise will not return to God void.

O that today you will listen to His voice, harden not your hearts.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com