16th Sunday of the Year: Weeding the garden of our hearts.

Study:  Consider your life right now.  What is flourishing in your heart, and what needs to be pulled out?

Pray:  Ask the Lord for wisdom to know how to grow in grace.

Serve:  How might you be an example for another person?  How might your work to root out sin inspire someone else to grow closer to the Lord?

Mass Readings – 16th Sunday of the Year

Several powerful themes surface in the readings this week.

• 1st Reading – The Lord is the source of justice
• Psalm – “Lord, you are good and forgiving.”
• 2nd Reading – The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness
• Gospel – Jesus offers several parables; two of them are about weeds and seeds

A common pattern emerges from these themes as we discover that in the midst of injustice, sin, weakness and evil the Lord comes with justice, forgiveness, strength and power.  Simply put, God gives us grace to confront the weeds in our lives.

So that begs the question: Where are the weeds in our hearts today?  What struggle are we facing that requires the Lord’s mercy and love?  Perhaps we might step back and pause this week to reflect on the state of our soul, so that we can honestly assess what is growing and what needs to go.

Jesus Christ knows our hearts and loves us unconditionally.  As we look at the garden of our hearts may we trust that the one who knows us completely will help us root out what does not belong and help us grow as Sons and Daughters of God.

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Note: This post was first published on July 17, 2017.