“Have you ever wondered why in today’s age we have access to the most information, actually all of the information of the world at our fingertips, but yet we don’t seem any bit happier than any other generation? Have you ever wondered why we have all the knowledge, what we think we should do, but yet we’re still anxious about if it’s right? Have you ever wondered why that is? I think it’s because we’re searching in the wrong places. It’s not that we need information and we need the knowledge to be happy, but what we’re really searching for is what is the will of God in my life? What is God’s will for me? ‘Cuz that’s the truest longing of our hearts where we will truly be fulfilled. Everything else we’re kind of grasping at straws, but what if we could see it more clearly and hear it with true understanding?
In today’s Gospel it’s the sower and the seeds and this is one of the parables that Jesus explains exactly what he means and we’ve heard in the long Gospel what that is. The seed is the word of God. The seed is Jesus Christ and each one of us who have been baptised have been baptized in Jesus Christ, but what do we do with it? How do you nurture your soul or maybe we should think, what is our soul’s diet? All the things we look at in our own life, our physical life, we look at diets. Look at all the trends there are of diets and exercises and even that, something so simple that we can see with our own eyes and when we eat we know how it feels we still can’t even do that right. We still can’t even do what we know we should do, so why do we think we know what’s truly right for our own souls? That’s where Christ comes in because when he left he didn’t leave us empty handed. He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us. This past couple of weeks we’ve had the Confirmation and most of us here have been confirmed with the Holy Spirit, but have we really embraced that spirit? Have we really nurtured it? The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit help us see more clearly as God would want us to see to hear with true understanding, but only if we will let it only if we will nurture it and how do we nurture our souls? How do we get that rich soil? Well first and foremost it’s in the sacraments and prayer. It’s in prayer that we truly can hear with clarity the voice of God if you’re willing to let yourself hear it because it’s only when we’re truly humble before the Lord that we can receive that, saying that I don’t truly know what’s good for me. Help me understand. These are the things that maybe weren’t taught, but to ask for what we need. Ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our life.
So I ask you again, do you see as clearly as you want to see? Do you hear what you want to hear? Do you know the will of God in your life? If you don’t, then feed your soul with the rich soil that the church has given us here, all the sacraments, but most importantly within the Eucharist. It’s no coincidence that the very Eucharist is given to us as bread and wine. Food. Because it’s, just physically, food nurtures and sustains our life. It helps us grow strong, but the Eucharist itself, the Body of Christ, is food for the soul. It nurtures and sustains our soul. It’s that rich soil that feeds that seed, the word of God in our life, the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that it bears great fruit, but only if we let it. God always gives us the free will to choose and what will you choose?
So as you come before the Lord today where Christ is truly present to us in the Eucharist, let us continue to ask the Lord for the strength and the courage to look at ourselves honestly to reflect on our lives. What do we feed our souls? Is it rich in nutrients or is it not? Bring that to the Lord and ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that you can bear great fruit for our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”