I love the imagery of the heart and mind as a fertile ground, and acts of love, and the words of God are meant to be planted and thrive therein. I think the question for us becomes, how do I till and fertilize my heart and mind?

There is the hard work of removing stones, making space and removing obstacles to our relationship with God, allowing our peace to be upset in order to move sinful and prideful stones from our hearts and minds. This often requires breaking habits that have become solidified in our lives. There is no greater tool in our shed than the sacrament of reconciliation.

After the stones are removed, we need to ask ourselves how do I condition the soil of my mind and heart. Modern farming methods give us some insight into this question; each crop requires different soil nutrients. We cannot just pour miracle grow; we have to take care how we are nurturing our hearts and minds, allowing the carbon of charity to build up and then be depleted, allowing the nitrogen of kindness to build up and then be depleted, allowing the moisture of patience to be balanced so that we don’t drown our faith.

All of this spiritual work needs to be done cyclically, not just one and done. We need to pay attention to ourselves in order to allow God’s fruits to blossom and grow into
abundance in our lives.

May the Love, Peace and Grace of God be with you,

Fr. Adam