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The Light of the World
“At that time, when a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of the cities
unto Jesus” (Gospel). The people mentioned in the Gospel today are these people who are
assembled here today to offer up the Holy Sacrifice. We have the sower in our midst; today He
will sow this good seed in our hearts through the lessons taught by the Epistle and Gospel of
the Mass, through the edifying example set for us by St. Paul in the Epistle, through the example
He Himself gave us by His death on the cross, and by the unbloody renewal of that death in
the Mass today. He became “obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross” (Phil 2:8).
“The sower went out to sow his seed.” The seed which Christ today sows in the Mass is,
in the mind of the sacred liturgy, especially the Holy Eucharist, Holy Communion. This seed
cannot fail to reproduce itself sixtyfold if it falls on fertile soil. Yet in the soil of our soul it so
often fails to bear fruit at all. The soil has not been properly prepared. We are too preoccupied
by worldly cares and burdens of our life. We are too concerned about that which is worldly and
transitory and too little interested in that which is divine and eternal. Thus the soil of our soul
becomes rocky ground, so hard and forbidding that the seed can strike no roots. The holy sacraments
produce fruit, the Council of Trent tells us, according to our preparation and dispositions.
Prayer
Perfect Thou my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps be not moved; incline Thy ear and
hear my words; show forth Thy wonderful mercies, Thou who savest them that trust in Thee,
O Lord. (Offertory.)
Thursday
Lent, the spring and seeding time of the soul, is near at hand. In the Mass and in the Holy
Eucharist good seed will be sown in our soul. The divine sower strews His seed with a prodigal
hand. Is the soil of our soul prepared to receive it?
“Some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. . . . And
they by the wayside are they that hear; then the devil cometh and taketh the word out of their
heart” (Gospel). These are the souls which are dissipated and unmortified. They no longer have
taste for anything but that which is superficial and worldly; they have abandoned the practice
of recollection; they preserve no watch over their senses and over the desires and movements
of their heart. They are they who hear the word of God; “then the devil cometh and taketh the
word out of their heart.”
“And other some fell upon a rock. And as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away because
it had no moisture.” This seed sprang up, but it soon withered because it could not fix its
roots in the soil. These are the souls who receive the seed with good will, but as soon as they
are subject to temptation or are required to make sacrifices, they weaken and submit. “In time
of temptation they fall away.”
“And other some fell among thorns. . . . And that which fell among thorns are they who have
heard and, going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and
yield no fruit.” The soul tends naturally toward God and earnestly receives His grace. But at the
same time it is troubled by various illicit desires and the cares of its station in life; it is troubled
about its past and worried about its future. It is concerned about its health, frightened by the
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