 As we gather today to celebrate the Eucharist, we're once again presented with this beautiful parable of the seed, the sower sowing the seed. And we can hear this word and we can look at it in so many different ways. And one of the ways it struck me as I was prayerfully reflecting on it is that there is this repeated phrase, the one who hears the word without understanding, the one who hears the word without understanding. Jesus speaks of the seed on the path as the one who hears the word without understanding. And he speaks of the seed falling on the rocky ground. He speaks of the seed being choked by the thorns. But finally he said, but the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. And that is the one who bears the fruit and yields 100 or 60 or 30 or 60 fold. I think this is always the challenge for us brothers and sisters, is it not to not stop at hearing the word, but to really internalize it, to really allow it to become part of who we are, to become part of our very being, part of the person that we are, to understand the word. Now just a few verses before this, Jesus had said to his disciples to whom he was sharing this parable, knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you. So he was giving them the grace to not only hear his teaching, but to really make it a part of their lives that would change their lives, that would form them, that would shape them. They would not be the same persons because the Holy Spirit would be disposing them to that. I think that would be my prayer for you in these next few days. You will hear many things. You will hear many things. My prayer will be that you will understand, that they will take root in your heart like the seed, and maybe even more that you'll be drawn back to the things that persist after even this conference, the Word of God, the Eucharist, the truths of our faith, that those things will find deep root in your hearts. As we think of that, we think of the gift of the precious blood of Jesus. The gift of his blood on the cross shed for us, one drop of which is immeasurably more than any sin we could commit or any way we could turn away from him, the power of his blood, the power of his forgiveness, the power of redemption. And it is good for us to be reminded of the great gift of the blood of Jesus. I was reading a little bit, there's a wonderful little book I might recommend to you. It's a new book. It's called The Wonders of the Mass and the Eucharist, Insights of the Saints, and it's by Sister Marianne Fatoula, a wonderful Dominican sister whose brother, Dave Fatoula, is one of our wonderful staff members here at the university. And Sister Marianne speaks about the power of the precious blood of Jesus, and I don't know how many of you know about the story of Catherine of Siena, but St. Catherine of Siena was this amazing woman of God. I think she was one of 23 children, so her mother must have been even more amazing. And St. Catherine basically lived as a third order Dominican, and she was a woman on fire. And I don't know if you know this, but she had a devotion to the precious blood of Jesus. Her and St. Teresa of Avila, in a very particular way, had a devotion to the precious blood, and she would write about the precious blood and she would pray about the power of remaining close to the precious blood. And there was this beautiful story where this became very incarnate in her life, where she had received word that a young man, Nicolo de Toldo, who was condemned to beheading, and she started to pray for this young man and intercede for him and pray for him, pray for his conversion. And he did have a conversion. It was before his execution that he went to the sacrament of pendants and actually was, she was able to go to Mass with this man on death row about to be executed. She urged Nicolo to go to his execution inwardly covered with the precious blood of Jesus, whom he had received in Holy Communion. And it said her words to him were so tender and comforting that Nicolo begged Catherine to go ahead of him and to wait for him at the place of execution. At his execution, and I know this is a little graphic, but it's real, Catherine received his severed head into her hands as Nicolo's blood flowed onto her clothes. The precious blood of Jesus had come into this young man. He gave his life away in repentance. As, and it says, Sister Marianne says, as Nicolo entered the Lord's side, his sacred ruin, he seemed to turn to Catherine. This was a vision she had. And with love sweet enough to draw a thousand hearts, he gave her a sign of his undying gratitude. And Catherine goes on to write this. Oh, sweet blood, Catherine cries out. The Lord's precious blood, which we receive in the Eucharist, this is Sister Marianne reflecting on her, deepens within us the Holy Spirit's charity, the love that brings us joy on earth. If we live every day, Saint Catherine of Siena wrote, trusting completely in the blood of the Lamb, we will be ready to embrace death with the arms of love. Until that sacred moment, Catherine urges us to live every day bathed in the precious blood of Jesus, whom we receive so tenderly in the Eucharist. I would like to say to you that the blood of Jesus is the same as the seed sown. And as we invite the seed, the Word of God, the Eucharist, the blood of Jesus, we become transformed, whether we've been living as cradle Catholics our whole life, or whether we are a death row inmate at the hour of our death. The precious blood of Jesus, the power of God, the power of God's mercy transcends all. May you in these days open yourself to receive a little bit more deeply and beg for the grace of the Holy Spirit, that the seed would fall upon your heart, the seed of the Word of God, the seed of the blood of Christ, the seed of the Eucharist, and may the Lord give you his peace.