Homily For Wednesday Third Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 24th January, 2024 The Memorial of St. Francis De Sales

Readings: 2 Samuel 7:4-17; Ps. 89; Mark 4:1-20

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

THE FRUIT OF A FERTILE SOUL IS SEEN IN THE INTERIOR LIFE OF THE PERSON.

 

Having a good disposition and positive response towards whatever we do in life has a way of building up our confidence and interior life, and this, of course, leads us to great success. Little wonder in our Gospel passage today, Jesus uses the parable of the sower to describe different kinds of response to God's Word. He explained the parable by pointing out our different dispositions towards the Word of God in relation to our interior life. This will help us to know whether our soul is like dry rocky ground or do we regularly seek to nourish our soul and prepare it to receive the holy Word of God. So we are called to create a fertile disposition within our heart in order to do the will of God.

 

In the scriptures, there are many who hear the words of Jesus and do not understand them because of poor disposition, for instance, the religious leaders who are against his teachings, the crowds that responded positively to Jesus, especially to his miracles of healing, yet turned against him at the end and demanded his crucifixion. Some disciples such as Judas might also be included among those who fall away when trouble or persecution came on account of the Word. While the rich young man who was unable to part with his possessions, provides a clear example of one who hears the word, the love for the passing things of this world and the lure of wealth choked the word, and it yielded nothing.

 

But what about the good soil? These are those who hear the Word, understand it and internalize it. They indeed bear fruit and yield an abundant harvest. Our mother Mary and the disciples excluding Judas are good examples of such people. Therefore, the different kinds of ground on which the seed falls represent different ways by which we receive the Word of God.

 

Dear friends, our hearts are the fields in which the Word of God is scattered. But, to which do our hearts belong? the pathway, the rocky ground, the thorns or the good soil? Whichever one, we are called to have the right disposition and positive response to the Word of God. We are to pay attention and take some time to appreciate God’s Word in our lives by allowing it to bear solid root in us so that we can bear great fruits that will manifest in our interior life, knowing that the fruit of a fertile soul is seen in the interior life of the person.

 

So, let us be inspired by the faith and the good examples of St. Francis de Sales whose memorial we celebrate today. St. Francis was born a noble, but his encounters with the Lord and some questions about the faith eventually led him to seek the Lord more closely through discernment. St. Francis de Sales later gave up his rights and inheritance and became a priest and later a bishop. He dedicated himself a lot to the people. He tirelessly involved himself in reaching out to many Christians, including those who have separated themselves from the Church and this is a sign of his interior life the fruit of his fertile soul.

 

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, oftentimes our disposition and response towards your Words is so poor. As we listen to your Words today, give us grace to remain open to receiving your Words, so as to bear fruit abundantly. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Do have a favourable day.