On a number of occasions, something someone said to me “pops up” into my conscious thought. And it may have been spoken to me in a conversation that took place somewhere way back in the past. You just never know when a word spoken has taken root. This also means that something I said to someone may also take root in them. What surfaces in our memory, from conversations in the past can be either positive or negative, thought provoking or spirit crushing. The words we use to others can be helpful or hurtful. What we remember also speaks volumes.
The prophet Isaiah speak beautifully and poetically about how GOD’S WORD, like the snow and rain that saturates the earth, causing the seed to burst forth in life, His Word wishes to saturate the soul of our souls, to sink deep within, allowing seeds of multiple virtues to take root and produce fruit. But the soil must be able to “receive” God’s word and this is impossible if the heart is HARDENED. The ancient call of the Scriptures, echoing in the Old and New Testaments is to “harden NOT your hearts.”
Our hearts become “hardened” when we refuse to forgive, when we stop praying, when we live in self made bubbles of isolation, when we complain and give into negativity. Hateful attitudes, judgements, self righteousness, rigid mindsets on any side all contribute in making our hearts impenetrable to the seeds of God’s words and message. Sadly, hard hearted people are so pitiful for they are like a tree that is never watered, wilting and dying... no fruit.
Lent is the season of the softening of the human heart. How is your heart softening, so that it can “produce fruit” allowing YOU to burst into new life?
Peace,
Fr. Frank