SOFTEN MY HEART
- Olufunmilayo Adekusibe
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Today’s Readings:
Exodus 16:1-5,9-15
Psalm 78:18-19,23-28
Matthew 13:1-9
I caught someone drinking alcohol during Mass. Not water. Not soda. Alcohol. He was tucked away behind the grand organ in the parish, unseen by the chorister who sat and sang on the other side of the square barricade that housed the organ player. The whole gallery area was thrown in shadows from the lights on the altar area and the ground floor of the church. He sat along the rail on the front row of his dim-lit gallery rendezvous, I could see him clearly from the president seat on the altar from where my eyes had casually drifted as the choir sang the responsorial psalm.
He was fair-skinned, skinny and slightly athletic. He had narrow Asian eyes and an almost square face that could easily pass him for a boxer or a street tout. He had wiped his face with a white towel, smoothed his matted hair and opened a small dark bottle and took a sip, wincing as the pungent smell hit his nostrils and the drink’s intoxicating fingers tickled his brain. I tore my gaze away from him in amazement as I wondered why he chose the church as a drinking spot. Couldn’t he have stayed home or hung out with his friends at a football viewing centre, or taken a long walk home while sipping in peace, without the judging and worried eyes of a priest trailing him? Could his action be a cry for help? Perhaps, he had come to Church as a last stroke of hope for redemption. Perhaps he is battling intrusive thoughts while trying to suppress them with every sip from the dark bottle. Perhaps, his folks had given up on him. Is he struggling with heartbreak or battling suicidal thoughts? All the while I had been praying for him, one of my palms faced up in his direction as the words of the preacher filled the scattered-seating crowd. He hinted at young people returning to God and offering their lives as a sacrifice to Him. He invited everyone to stand as he prayed for their deliverance and obedience to God. All the while, our friend is taking a sip at intervals and wiping his mouth with his towel.
Jesus’ parable of the seed and the different soil textures is a picture-perfect description of our different dispositions to God’s word. Some soils are the edge of a path on which people walk. Others are patches of rock, hard and impervious. Others are covered with choking thorns. And some are rich and fertile grounds, productive and fruitful. We can be any kind of soil depending on our disposition to God’s life-changing word (Matthew 13:1-9). I am not going to sit here and tell you what to be or not be. What I will say is that you have to choose to stay close enough to where the seed continually falls so that the call slips through the cracks and crevices of your hardened heart and has a chance of life. Allow yourself to be watered consistently with the graces of the sacraments of Confession and Communion, which will soften your rebellion and waywardness. Come to Church (even if you intend to come and press phone or even drink alcoholic bitters) and sit down before God. Something will eventually give. And when it does, surrender to God and He will transform you to a completely new version of yourself, capable of mighty works. Do not resist the Holy Spirit. If this message is remotely related to anything you are going through, this is your invitation to surrender to God.
JUDE-MARY OWOH
To surrender your life to Christ, say this prayer aloud. “Father, I acknowledge my sin against You. I repent and ask for forgiveness in the name of Jesus. I surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, take control of my heart and lead me in Your path of righteousness. Thank you, Lord.”
If you said the prayer, Congratulations! You are welcome to the body of Christ. Prayerfully look for a living church and meet the resident reverend, pastor or priest.
Prayer:
Eternal Father, I realise that my lifestyle is not in accordance with Your will and purpose for me. Help me to decide to abandon the culture of death, which I have embraced and take up the culture of life and meaning, which is only found in you. Soften my heart in obedience and submission to Your holy will. Amen.
Soften my heart with the dew of your grace. Pierce through my deafness with the sound of Your word. Break my rebellion with your awesome grandeur and help me to submit in total obedience to You. Amen.
Comments