Sexagesima

In the beginning, the word sounded forth, but who heard it? God heard it, for God is a community of Persons. So God spoke and God heard, and thus the earth was fashioned. Hearing is of God. It is a marvelous gift, and its use is fulfilled when we hear the word of God. But the devil also knows this, and like the birds who devour the seed that falls by the way side, so the devil snatches the word when he can, like he did in the garden with Eve. And trouble and persecution are also threats to the germination of the word in the heart: people learn to live by fear instead of by faith. But Jesus says to us, Fear not countless times. And then also are the cares and riches and pleasures of this life which threaten the word's taking root. Like Faust of literature, people sell their souls to gain what the earth has. But it is all fleeting, and by it men turn from the faith. Let us embrace the word of Christ, for by the word the seed grows and yields an hundredfold. Sermon for Sexagesima. The video is here.