Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Parish issued the following announcement on July 12

Using the best seeds doesn’t always guarantee the best plants. An older Italian gentleman straight from Italy gave me these amazing tomato seeds that he claimed produced the best tomatoes ever grown. Without doubt, the fruit he shared with me was a testament to that fact. These tomatoes were amazing! I couldn’t wait until the next growing season to plant these seeds and harvest my own tomatoes. The whole experiment ended up a failure. I did everything the gentleman said, but my fruit didn’t even come close. What happened? At first I was perplexed, then some years later the light dawned. The problem wasn’t the seeds, it was the soil!

You cannot sow seeds in any old place and in a haphazard way and expect them to be at their best. It doesn’t work that way. Planting the seeds is the easiest part. Preparing the soil is the challenge. Tilling, mulching, enriching, and building up the nutrients are all required for good fruit. Then after the seeds are planted, more care is required in order to maintain that healthy, nutrient rich environment for those seeds to sprout, grow, and flourish. God happily sows the seeds of his Word. What do we do with them?

If we expect to be a passive bystander and have good fruit magically grow, we are mistaken. Bearing the good fruit of God’s Word requires preparation and work. We have to cultivate the soil of our lives so that those seeds can find a proper home. This one thing alone takes a great deal of patience, time, and effort. What kind of preparation have we put into our lives so that we can be a recipient of God’s seed? It takes a great deal of soul-searching and egochecking to properly prepare. God is the ever faithful and persistent sower. If the seeds do not bear fruit the first time, God will come back time and time again, giving it another try.

If we have created a suitable bed for sowing, then once the seed is sown, we must properly maintain them. What is our maintenance plan for the seeds of God’s Word? We need not only a source for water but a watering schedule. We need to weed, aerate the soil, nurture the young plants, protect them, and provide proper nutrients. What does our spiritual maintenance plan look like? If we have done all things well, imagine what the seeds of God’s Word could produce in us!

Original source can be found here.