 My name is Dr. Brant Petrie, I'm Professor of Sacred Scripture at Notre Dame's Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. And I thought I would reflect on the parable of the sower that Jesus has in the Gospel Mark Chapter 4. In that Gospel, Jesus compares the spiritual life to the sowing of seed in a gardener in a field, right? And he says that the sower sows the word and that different people have different responses to that word that's planted. Of course, there's the seed that's sown on the path and the bird comes and eats it up. And then there's seed that's sown in rocky soil so it doesn't grow up. And then there's other seed that's sown among thorns and so it begins to grow but the thorns choke it. And then the final category he gives is a fourth category, which is seed that's sown on fruitful soil, abundant soil, that grows and bears 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold. It bears much, much fruit, a super abundant fruit. And I've always thought this parable was really revelatory of the spiritual life. There are lots of us who, when we first encounter Christ, maybe when we first hear the word with an open heart, it's like him planting that seed in our souls. But just like if you've ever had a garden, you'll know it can't stop with the planting of the seed. You've got to water the seed, you've got to care for the seed, you've got to tend it, otherwise it's going to get choked, it's going to die. And so one of the things that the Catechism says about this second stage of the spiritual life where the seed begins to bear fruit is that prayer is essential, that we have to cultivate a habit of meditating on the word of God. And the Catechism actually says that if we don't do this, we're going to risk becoming like the first three kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. Either we'll fall prey to the temptations of the devil or the spiritual life in us will get choked by the thorns of the world, the anxieties and cares of life. Or what will happen with us is that like rocky soil, we'll be really excited about the gospel at first. But as soon as the sun comes out, as soon as the heat comes and trials and tribulation come, our roots won't have run very deep and that spiritual life will be snuffed out in us. So at the second stage of discipleship, a daily commitment to prayer, not just vocal prayer, but to meditation and in particular meditation on the word of God is something that the teaching of the church says is essential. We have to do that so that we can not only receive the seed of God's word into ourselves but bear fruit for others because ultimately Christ didn't come into the world to give us the gospel and to give us salvation in order for us to keep it to ourselves. Like a seed in a garden, he wants us to have our own life but through that life to bear fruit so that we can give the gospel the good news of salvation to others.