Word of God needs to ruminate in our hearts to bear fruit!

February 20, Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Memorial of Saints Francisco and Jacinta
Daily Readings: Isaiah 55:10–11, Matthew 6:7–15

The Word of God is potent. It never arrives empty. It will bear fruit in due season. The Word of God is compared to rain and snow, which never arrive empty. od. Human life and agriculture are impossible without water or rain. Similarly, the word of God is an integral part of human life. Rain and water saturate the earth. They create and maintain water bodies for sustained supply releases in times of need. They initiate and facilitate the development of vegetative and animal kingdoms.

The Word of God has the same role and power as the Word of God. Humans who receive God's Word must ruminate over it. They need to create reservoirs or sources of inner strength to keep up and promote the holiness of life. Due to the overuse and abuse of fertilizers and other chemicals, Mother Earth is not able to receive or absorb water anymore. The earth has lost its capacity to take in water, so it flows into the sea. Rainwater washes away when it falls in the form of cloudbursts; sometimes it washes away.

In the same way, if human hearts and minds are not well prepared to receive the Word of God, it will not produce the desired results. Preparing the soil enables it to benefit from rain and snow. Human hearts and minds must be prepared to enjoy the advantages and gains of God's Word. At times, our retreats become like cloudbursts, and therefore believers are not able to ruminate over God’s Word.

Prayer is a time of gracious encounter between the creator and the creature. It has to become dialogue, not a boring monologue. When God speaks, believers have to listen. That requires a response. We must have faith that when we speak, God attentively listens and will respond in His divine timing.

We need to create an atmosphere of silence to absorb. At times, we risk encountering a wall that throws everything back at the same speed it was thrown, while a sponge retains the poured water up to a certain capacity. The Jews believed in heaping up empty phrases and left no time to meditate upon or listen to God’s word. After all the prayers, perhaps they returned home empty or sometimes worse than before, like the Pharisees (cf. Luke 18:9–14)!

Holy Mother Church honors the memory of Francisco and Jacinta, the Seers of Fatima. These innocent children received the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in good faith, and they learned to pray the Holy Rosary for peace in the world.

Call to Action for Catholic Living: The Lord’s Prayer is universal. Does my prayer have a universal character?