377 Like a Seed, We Bear Fruit Through Perseverance
Transcript
Speaker 1: As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard. But as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Scripture for your inner outcasts. Today is September 19th, 2026, Saturday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time. Today's guest presenters Theresa Robinson, a wife and mom to five. A clinical counselor and the director of campus Ministry at Saint Joseph's College at the University of Alberta.
Speaker 1: As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard. But as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit. But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart and bear fruit through perseverance. It's so good to be here with you. As I reflect on these words, another passage of scripture comes to my mind. It's one that touched my heart deeply when I was in my 20s. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God promises, I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Throughout my life, I've often believed that there are parts of me I simply needed to get rid of, parts that should be cast away or silenced. Often these were my youngest and most vulnerable parts. The exiles who carried pain, fear, loneliness, or shame. At other times, they were protectors whose ways of coping had become burdensome, frustrating, or even destructive. I might have an anxious part whose worries feel like the thorns in today's gospel. Sometimes my whole system becomes so tired of dealing with that anxiety that it seems as though the easiest solution would be to silence her or cast away this one who's anxious. Or I might have a firefighter who becomes distracted by the riches and pleasures of life turning to food, alcohol or entertainment, busyness or something else in an attempt to find comfort or escape from pain. Then other parts of me sit there and judge that firefighter so harshly.
Speaker 1: And while the behaviors are often genuinely harmful and they may need to change, we know that compassion does not require us to call destructive behaviors good. And at the same time, there is an important difference between rejecting a harmful behavior and condemning the part that is trying, however imperfectly, to protect us from pain. Each of our parts, and all of us, has been created in the image and likeness of God. Each possesses inherent worth, dignity and goodness. These parts of us do not need to be destroyed and can't be. They need to be known, loved, healed, and transformed so that they can grow into who God created them to be. In today's first reading, Saint Paul writes, it is sown dishonorable, it is raised glorious. It is sown weak. It is raised powerful. These words remind me that the condition that I find myself today in doesn't have to be or have the final word, and it won't be the final word. We live in the hope of healing and growth in this life, as well as the hope of resurrection and the transformation that awaits us in Christ. Some of my protectors believe that to keep me safe from the birds that might devour the seed or the storm that might damage it, they need to build a harder outer shell around me. They believe I need to become Invulnerable or impenetrable. Perhaps even like that heart of stone. But the image of rich soil offers another way. Fertile soil is soft, tender, open and receptive. There's a vulnerability in that image. Yet this tender receptivity is precisely what allows the seed to to enter, to take root and bear fruit.
Speaker 1: Our youngest and most vulnerable parts may carry pain, but they also retain something of that openness, wonder, trust and receptivity that helps us welcome God's Word. Jesus tells us that we must become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. So to the young and vulnerable parts of you who feel like outcasts, who have been hidden away because your fear, sadness, or need seemed like too much, you are not the thorns and you are not something God wants to remove. You may carry some of the richest soil within us the tenderness, openness, innocence, and longing that allow us to receive God's love. You do not need to make yourself disappear for the rest of us to become holy. You need to be found, welcomed and brought into the healing presence of Christ. If being seen still feels frightening, you do not have to come forward all at once. You can move slowly. Jesus is patient with you. You are not a problem to be eliminated. You are someone within us whom God desires to meet, love, and heal under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. With our whole person rooted in Christ, our protectors can gradually release the extreme roles they have been carrying. They do not have to remain constantly vigilant. Our wounded parts can be brought into the light. Encountered with compassion and gradually freed from burdens they were never meant to carry. This transformation usually does not happen all at once. Like the seed planted in rich soil, we bear fruit through perseverance.
Speaker 2: Souls and hearts is flagship program of human formation. The Resilient Catholic's community opens up for membership just three times a year, and the next opportunity is coming up on October 1st, ten days from now. On September 29th, 2026, we will be having a no commitment informational meeting about the RCC. You can register in the link in the description of today's show.
Speaker 1: Let us end with our invocations. Our Lady, our mother, Untier of knots. Pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint John the Baptist pray for us.
Creators and Guests
