This sign hung on the front of our garage pointing to our house for twenty years.
Wednesday, January 26 The Parable of the Sower
Our Post is Inspired by The Holy Spirit.
The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” Mark 4 14-20
I have always read this parable as a static parable. I was either in rich or poor soil and if I were born in poor soil what chance would I have for salvation?
Now I know my thought process was very flawed!
I know this from my own life experiences, wherein my younger years God was up there and I was down here, and please Lord leave me alone.
In fact, it is even worse than that.
I learned at Stonehill College, where I was forced to take Theology courses for four years, that the more I knew about God, the more God would ask of me.
I decided I would be stupid about God and sneak into Heaven!
No judgment!
Forty years later this process of thought didn’t give me Peace.
I started going to daily Mass, and after receiving communion I was filled with Peace, for just a few brief seconds, but still, I felt Peace.
The question I asked was, “How do I grow in Peace?”
The answer I found was to change the soil.
And I changed the soil by starting, although I didn’t know it at the time, by building a relationship with God. In fact, I didn’t know at the time God wanted a relationship.
What a surprise when I found out we are called into a relationship with God, and from our relationship comes Love, Joy, and Peace.
This really hit home when I went to do Bible study in the jail. We had eighteen to twenty men come into a room that held fifteen men comfortably to learn about God.
Now I’m not naive.
I know some of the men were there only because they had a choice, remain locked up for an hour, or come to bible study.
One man, Ryan, testified he was there to get out of his cell.
We responded that the Holy Spirit was working in his life and he should enjoy the fact God wanted him there because,
Ryan was loved by God the same as God loves you and me!
Ryan is not a throwaway, GOD wanted him in this world for a reason, and maybe this was the first step in his discovering God and what God wanted from him in this life.
We told Ryan too, “Learn the “nine”, thank God for the difficulties, and tell satan to get behind him.”
Ryan did as we asked.
Ryan also started reading the bible and praying Psalm 91.
Many miracles, surprises, happened to Ryan over the next fourteen months.
There are five men’s pods in the jail, each pod holding about forty men, and the men are moved to different pods from time to time, for any reason.
Ryan was never moved!
Ryan was in the Cumberland County Jail for fourteen months, and I was told by Rev Jeff, the Chaplin, that the maximum stay in the Cumberland County Jail was always less than nine months. Once again Ryan stayed in the same pod, a different cell from time to time, and ended up in his last few months of incarceration in a private cell.
He became very active in our meetings, and with other prisoners in his pod.
Ryan was given an early release after he had been told by the judge that this would never happen.
Ryan found Jesus and fell in Love with the Triune God.
The ground, soil, changed.
Ryan came out of jail to bury his mother and take care of his dad.
After Ryan was released we had lunch and exchanged emails, but sadly we lost touch.
Months after I lost touch with Ryan, the Holy Spirit encouraged me to call Rev. Jeff, and I asked Rev. Jeff if Ryan was back in jail, Holy Spirit, only to find out Ryan was, in fact, back again.
I didn’t ask why.
Not my business.
I still Love him.
The ground, soil, changed!
After Rev. Jeff and I had talked for a few minutes, and now knowing Ryan was back in jail, Rev. Jeff asked if I would like to talk with Ryan, I said yes, and Rev. Jeff put through a phone call to Ryan, and we talked for fifteen minutes. I couldn’t see him because of COVID. As we talked I felt the fire, Love, for God, still in Ryan’s belly. He knew what he did wrong, he also knew he had stopped praying for an increase of Love, Joy, and Peace, but now he was once again living in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit, in jail, and this was a totally different person than the person I met on his first trip into jail.
The ground, soil, changed!
We have told Ryan’s story because, in fact, this is also my story.
I feel I take two steps forward, and next take one or two steps backward, and even worse I sometimes spend time in what I can only call limbo. This is where I think all of this is a stupid waste of my time, prayers are not being answered, God isn’t listening, and why should I have to go through this particular difficulty?
Whine, whine, whine!
As we said two paragraphs earlier, God, who is always in my life, the Holy Spirit had me call Rev. Jeff, who then linked me to Ryan and Ryan thanked me, actually us, for the prison ministry and all he, Ryan, had learned.
I hung up and cried at my own lack of faith.
The ground, soil, changed.
Locked out of the jail because of COVID I prayed for something we could do to help people encounter a God of OUTRAGEOUS LOVE.
God’s answer was;
being chosen to write the Wednesday post for A Catholic Moment!
The ground, soil, changed.
“The nine” We pray you will grow in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit by growing in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
The Cocktails sign hung on the front of our garage for almost twenty years. I was always amazed at the people who would stop by and ask if the sign was for real. I told them, “Yes, do you want a drink?”
They realized I was serious and started to back peddle.
“Not now! Maybe at a different time,” and the excuses piled up.
Two neighbors took us at our word; one showed up at six pm, the other a year later at eleven pm. Gail and I were just heading to bed. We entertained until well after twelve midnight.
Isn’t this somewhat the same with God?
The invitation to form a real relationship is an open door, all we have to do is knock, and the door will be opened.
Comments:
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the time some take to make a comment. I will try every week by Thursday to respond to every comment. You have no idea how much they motivate me to get the next post out.
Thank you, you’re a great group to work for!
