How many times has somebody—a teacher, your mother or father, or even a friend— told you to LISTEN? Sometimes we DO hear something, but that doesn’t mean we are really listening!
In today’s Gospel reading, we hear a story about somebody who goes out to the field to plant seeds. Some seeds never sprout at all. Some seeds sprout at first and then die. But some seeds fall onto good dirt, and they do sprout. They grow and grow and give a good crop.
This story shows how we should hear God’s teachings. The Gospel explains that the seeds that are in the good dirt are the ones who, “hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart.” They hold onto it, because the word of God is something precious!
So it’s easy to hear the word, but we also have to listen. That means in church, or in church school, or when we read our Bibles, or when our parents tell us about Jesus Christ, we listen. We try to take these words about God and put them into our hearts. We try to live the words, and not just hear them. We hold them fast in an honest and good heart.
Presvytera Alexandra Houck, myocn
St Vasilios Greek Orthodox Church 