Luke 8:5-15 2024/10/20 Osaka Church
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit
In today’s Gospel, the Lord Jesus speaks the bitter truth that just as a sown seed cannot grow well depending on the soil or environment in which it falls, the seed of salvation, the Word of God, that falls into a person’s heart can also disappear from that person’s heart without growing.
However, we must not forget. The Lord says that there is also “good soil.” This is “cultivated soil” that has been ploughed deeply and is well circulated with air and water. He says that such soil can bear great fruits by listening to the Word of God.
One Holy Father teaches about this Gospel that it is prayer that cultivates the heart. Just as the ground is hard and air and water cannot penetrate if it is not ploughed well, the work of the Holy Spirit cannot permeate a heart that is not well cultivated. Without the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Word of Jesus, the “seed” that brings salvation, will not take root in the heart and will end up as mere “knowledge.” It will not become the “Word of Life” that gives life to people. Unceasing prayer is necessary.
However, there are times when you feel that “I am just praying out of habit, without any heart. Is there any point in praying like this?” and so you stop praying. Of course, it is better to pray with heart. But don’t throw away the habit of praying. No matter how hard the ground is, if you keep hoeing it, it will eventually become “good soil” suitable for fields, and soft and well-tilled ground.
The Lord encourages us by saying, “If you hear the word, and hold on to it with a good and righteous heart and endure, it will bear fruit.” “If you endure.” Don’t be discouraged, thinking, “Mere habit won’t accomplish anything,” but believe that God’s power, not your own, is at work in the words of prayer, and persevere in the habit.
Even if you only pray with your lips, at least immediately after you pray, you will not be able to curse others with your mouth.
Don’t make fun of habits. Bad habits can make you a worse person than you ever imagined. On the other hand, good habits and daily prayer will one day, as if by a miracle, open your heart to God. It will without fail make you think, “I wasn’t this kind of a person!”