#weeds – Tattoos, Motorcycles, Beer, Bourbon and Faith

I have been reading the gospels that discuss the parable of the sower in Matthew, Mark and Luke. There is a lot packed into this parable. It says a lot about each of us as we can choose our own type of ground. Will we be rocky or shallow ground, will we be choked by weeds, or will we be rich and fertile soil? We decide how open we are going to be to God, and we choose if we are going to follow Jesus. This parable addresses everyone regardless of where they are in their faith journey and their relationship with God.

The Parable of the Sower in the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and Mark

But rather than thinking about this parable from the perspective of the ground and the seed, I have begun to look at it from the perspective of the sower. The sower is not selective. He freely sowed his seeds, planting them in all places; on rocky paths, in shallow soil, amongst, the weeds, and on fertile ground. He didn’t pick and choose where he would place the seed. He was indiscriminate and he was generous. Think about that for a minute. Indiscriminate and generous, kind of like Jesus.

How indiscriminate are we in sharing kindness? How generous are we in showing love to one another? Or do we only show kindness to those who are kind to us? Are we compassionate to the strangers that we meet, particularly those who are in need? Or do we silently judge them and sneer at their current situation? Are we patient in situations that call for patience (traffic, the checkout line, dealing with family)? Or do we rush through everything in life, filled with self-importance and never having enough time? Do we love with the love of Christ, loving others regardless of who they are? Or do we only love those who are easy to love? We are called to be like Jesus, but are we?

My herb garden – one of my favorite things about summer

There are numerous opportunities throughout the day to share the love of God with others. These are opportunities for us, as common everyday people, to evangelize, to be Christ to others. But we all too often miss those opportunities. We are so busy looking inward that we miss what is around us. We miss the opportunity to show kindness to be compassion, to be examples of Christ’s love in a broken world.

We are both the soil and the sower. Maybe today, we can be better sowers and spread the seeds of love and kindness everywhere, indiscriminate about where and with whom we share these gifts. And today, please pray for me, and I will continue to pray for you.

Saturday August 10^th was the feast day of St. Lawrence. I really don’t know a lot about the Saints, but I have learned quite a bit during this year. And Fr. Vince shared some wonderful information about St. Lawrence’s background at the beginning of mass.

St. Lawrence was a Deacon under Pope Sixtus II and was martyred 4 days after Pope Sixtus II was beheaded. Legend has it that after the arrest of Pope Sixtus II, Deacon Lawrence was responsible for the material goods of the church. The emperor was aware of this, and bargained with Lawrence, indicating that he would spare his life if he turned over all of the church’s treasures to him. Lawrence was shrewd and asked for three days to get the church’s affairs in order. He then sought out the destitute and distributed the church’s wealth to them. When the time came to turn the riches over, Lawrence gathered the blind and the lame, the leprous and the maimed, orphans, widows and the poor; and declared to the emperor, “These are the treasure of the Church.” This infuriated the emperor and thus sealed Lawrence’s fate.

Coincidentally, it is recorded that Pope Sixtus II told Lawrence on August 6^th (the day of his beheading) not to worry, he would see him again in 4 days. St. Lawrence was then condemned to die a horrendous death, being roasted alive. On August 10^th, – 4 days after the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus II – a gridiron was prepared with red hot coals placed beneath it, and Lawrence’s body placed upon it. The legend concludes, that Lawrence, during his agonizing death, cheerfully remarked, “I’m done on this side. Turn me over!”

Imagine that kind of joy for Christ! Even in his suffering and death, St. Lawrence was joyful. He chose humor and joy in the face of death. This serves as a wonderful example for us. When we find the humor and joy in hardships and disappointment, that helps others see the light of Christ in and through us. In fact, Pope Francis even called joy and a sense of humor as one of the signs of holiness most needed today in his apostolic exhortation Rejoice and Be Glad: On the Call to Holiness.

The story and history of St. Lawrence was especially impactful for me, because I haven’t had a whole lot of joy in my life lately. This is not caused by a particular person, occurrence, situation or event. This is primarily brought on by myself because of stress, anxiety, worry, fear, anger, disappointment, busyness, and just a general sense of feeling overwhelmed at times. These reactions are the “weeds” that I mentioned in my post on August 7^th. All of those negative feelings kill joy. And Lawrence, he justifiably had recourse to experience all of those emotions in light of his impending death, but he chose joy, he chose humor. Wow! Think about that the next time things seem bleak. This guy is being cooked alive and he is joking with his executioners. That’s real joy, zeal and love for God.

It is so easy to let change, circumstances, or situations negatively affect our lives and our outlook and our possibilities. But after learning about St. Lawrence, I realize there is nothing so negative in my life that I can’t choose joy, that I shouldn’t choose humor. And choosing joyfulness helps minimizes the negative aspects that I am facing.

Choosing joy, expressing gratitude, showing compassion, exemplifying kindness, embodying love; those are the things that the saints did in their everyday lives. They were called to holiness; we are called to holiness as well. And those are the kinds of things that we can do in our day to day living. So today choose joy, express gratitude, show compassion, exemplify kindness, embody love, be the light of Christ to all that you meet. Please pray for me and I will continue to pray for you.