Father Mark Nolte - July 12

St. Philip Catholic Church: Good morning everybody. My first eleven o'clock mass here at Saint Philip. So be merciful to me. If I seem lost, like with baptism, every parish does things differently, so I'm still kinda learning. So anyway, it's good to be with you. And s a special day today as we began our mask with preparation for baptism for Maddie and Cody. and little Dorothy. Dorothy's like most babies when you start touching them, you know, doing the she was back there going like this. So I said, We got a long way to go. Yeah, pour water over your head and you know, other parishes I've been in I've always asked could the finance committee, could we get some heated water? I mean, the little babies usually they're asleep. When you pour freezing cold water on their heads. So that that's what c what we used to do in college, college pranks, right? Pouring cold water or some it's like torture. So anyway, sh we'll get through it. But anyway, I I have to put Cody on the spot. Cody wanted to know that when we process in if he could hold Dorothy up for everybody and just We'll do that after the baptism. Anyway. So Jesus in the gospel today, He speaks in parables. Why does he use parables? To help us understand those who are open, whoever is open to his message, his word, can understand these parables. Those who are close to that, they find difficult. So he's using parables. Because he's wanting us to understand the deeper mysteries of the kingdom of God, something we cannot understand, even begin to understand in the flesh. There's no way. So he's trying to dummy it down for us, and he's trying to speak to us using symbols that we can understand. So in his day, agriculture was big. People understood when he talked about the sower and the seed, right? In the Old Testament, God was often spoken of as the sower and the seed. And the word that he spoke, the seed. Now Jesus comes in the God comes in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the seed. He is God's word in the flesh. And like the sowers, so when they would sow seeds, they would have a bag on and they would take seeds and they would just do like this. And they could understand that. And then they would come they would till the soil after throwing the seed out. So what Jesus was teaching him in this parable, he says, the kingdom of God is like this. God's message goes out to all the world. But like that seed, that message is not always going to be received. And he talks about on the ground there's the hard path. This is where people walk every day, the farmers, and it's become very hard, like this floor. And that seed's not gonna, it's not gonna be received, it's just gonna bounce right off the ground. Those individuals, and there's maybe some here today, what he's saying is not everyone's gonna receive his message. There are gonna be people who are indifferent to his message. These four types of soil, he's telling us these are four types of responses you're gonna receive when you try to share your faith or preach the God's word to people. So the first type of soil is the hard soil, the hard ground. Where it just can't penetrate. These are individuals who have become very hard-hearted, very stubborn, indifferent. Have you ever met those people? Just I'm not changing anything. You know, nothing's gonna get in here. And a lot of times we become hard-hearted or hard-headed because we've been hurt. Some people have been hurt so bad they're not opening their heart to anyone, including God. And so what he's saying is sometimes your message. Is gonna fall on deaf ears. Anybody, parents, have you ever felt like your message to your children falls on deaf ears? Raise your hand. If you agree with that. Unless you have perfect children, then we'll canonize them today. But yeah. So parents can relate to that message that Jesus is saying not everyone's gonna receive him. He knows it. But he still throws that seed out. He's like the first reading, he says the rain. comes in the when it rains it rains on the good and the evil. God doesn't sit there and go, okay, skip those people, they're evil, just rain on those people. No, when he when the rain comes, it rains on all this is what he's saying is God's love is a universal love. God loves the whole world and he wants to spread that love through every human being. But he's saying to us not everyone's going to receive him. And we know that from his own crucifixion It says, John's prologue says, He came unto his own, but his own did not accept him. His own people, us. We don't always accept. That's what sin is. When we sin, we reject him. And we choose to go our own way. That's the hard, the hard, the hard soil. I had a guy sitting in the front pew. This is my first assignment as a brand new priest, super nervous. That's back in the days when I had my notes and I stayed right up there and read my notes. I got tired of notes and I started just doing this. Anyway, guys sitting right there in the front pew and he's sitting facing right in front of the animal and he's he's sitting like this. And I'm thinking, whoa, that says a lot. I'm not interested in your message. And the Lord said, just don't look at him, look over his head. Because there are people here that want to hear the message. They want to hear my message. So the Lord said, just keep loving him, though. Keep loving him. Keep He preached it to him and over time he started turning, you know every week or so he's little We finally got him. And then that's the hard soul, right? We have people I saw this in schools a lot. Like I had all every assignment I have I've had schools. So I always love the schools because the little kids up here, they're doing all the hand motions, you know, they're very much into it. They're like little sponges. They don't know better yet. And then you get back to about the fifth, sixth, seventh grade, what do you start seeing? Attitude. Not interested, Father Mark. Mass is boring. Just get it over with. Right? See this early on. We start getting this indifferent disposition. We start getting kind of hard hearted, stubborn. And then there's the second soil, there's the the rocky ground. That's the soil that's shallow. In other words, God's we receive God's word, we receive it with enthusiasm. We like, hey, they're receiving it, but it doesn't hold. And when life gets hard, you start getting persecuted, you start going through trials and tribulations, you give up on the word. We see that with the twelve apostles. They followed him until it got to the end, right? They all ran. So they loved Jesus, just like you love Jesus. They received him, they loved him, but they haven't they didn't they weren't quite there. It wasn't until they received the Holy Spirit that they were able to commit their lives to him, even to death. They all died. Every one of them died martyrs except for St. John. So that second group of people, they received God's word, they love him, but it doesn't really penetrate much because they they're not really getting into God's word. And so it doesn't have any death, and so they don't really hold when things get tough. The third group, the thorny ground, these are people who we can all relate to all these, but these are people who love the Lord, they receive his word, but they also got a lot of worldliness, a lot of worldly anxieties pulled at Anybody have a lot of worldly anxieties pulled at you? Every day. Have you ever gone to prayer and your mind's just all over? You got you're worrying about all the stuff you gotta do today? How many of you Experience that. Just a few of you. Okay. Yeah, I mean we got all these anxieties pulling at us. We got attachments to our screens, television, all kinds of stuff. So we love the Lord. We come to church. We listen to His Word. We receive it with joy. But we got all this other stuff kind of choking it off. That's what Jesus did. That's the third group. And the last group Is the rich soil. Those are the people are like sponges. They're just taking it in and they're committed to him. They allow his word to transform their lives. They practice their faith. So for God's word to really transform me from the inside out, I have to not only take the word in, I gotta live it. You gotta walk the talk, right? So I can't just be Catholic by name. I gotta walk, I gotta be the real deal. And that takes a lifetime. We're all working on it. That's the that's the fourth group. I saw that a lot with the little kids at mass. The little ones up front, they're just like when you talk to them, you come this is why I preach this way, because I always had schools. If you don't come down and engage with the kids, they're like they're gone. So I like to look at all of you as as you're just little kids in big bodies. So you are There's a reason why Jesus says little children. He called the 12 apostles little children. Can you believe that? I'm not a kid. Because we are. We're all little children in his eyes. So those are the four groups of people. Which group do you find yourself in? Maybe you find yourself kind of in all those, depending on what season in your life you're going through. And that's okay. Because Jesus is going to come to you right where you are. Even if you're hard-hearted, you're indifferent to him, he's going to keep loving you. Because that's who he is. He doesn't stop loving you. He's a merciful, very patient God. So be patient with people who are indifferent to your message. Or maybe they're they're open, but they're not really committed. And I think that's where most of us fall. We're open, we love the Lord. We want to receive his word, so. But we still got a lot of work to do, right? I I know I do. So what are some ways that we can c cultivate the soil of our heart that we can so you know, those of you who know about gardening, right? You to have a good garden or a good crop, I have to remove the weeds and the rocks and the thorns and get the I have to clean that soil out. So what's sort what are some ways that I can allow my heart to be softened and my mind to be open to God's word? Regular confession. Regular confession. When's the last time you went to confession? Don't answer that. So, Mother Teresa, Saint Teresa of Calda, John Paul II, Saint Pope John Paul II, they're both saints. When they were living, people asked them, How often should we go to confession? They both said, At least once a month. Even if you haven't committed mortal sin, go on a regular basis. Why? Because any bitterness, anger, resentment, unforgiveness, anything negative that's within my heart, it's going to make my heart hard, and I can't receive him and his love for me. So for Forgiveness is key. Forgive. Some of you here, you need to forgive somebody that's hurt you. Doesn't mean you have to like them, doesn't mean you agree with what they did. It just means I'm not going to hang on to my anger anymore. I'm going to give it to him. Okay? Regular confession. If you forgot how to go, just make an appointment. If you need two or three hours, please make an appointment. Because I don't want people waiting in line. So I cannot. Emphasize confession enough. I have seen people physically and emotionally healed by making a good confession. Confession is powerful. So if you go regular confession, it just frees you up. It keeps your heart open and your mind open to what God wants to do with your life. Regular confession, going to Mass every weekend. A regular prayer life. How many of us get into God's Word? How many of us open the Bible and immerse ourselves into God's Word? St. Jerome said, ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. The main way we come to know Jesus is through sacred scripture, but we have to spend time, He is the Word, right? We have to spend time with Him. Even if it's just 15, 20 minutes today, we're all busy. My parents had 10 of us. Ten. And they got up and did their prayers. They had to get up really early, but they did it. It's possible. You just got to make God a priority. So prayer life, confession, regular mass, forgiveness, those are just the four of it's not a definitive list, but those are just some ways that you can keep your heart open. So you know, Maddie and Cody today and the Godparents, you have a tremendous look at Dorothy. You're happy now, but wait till we get back there. I'm gonna be pouring cold water on your head. You ain't gonna like me then. So you got a responsibility to to keep that little baby's heart and mind open. You gotta bring her to church. That she's watching everything you do. Bring her to church, even when she doesn't want to later on. She's gonna be in group one when she's ten. She'll be in group one. How many how many group ones we have? Ham how many people here today don't want to be here? Here, I'll I'll point you out. Teenagers. Mom and Dad made me come. So I hope you get to a point in your life where you say, see, I say now I get to go to Mass rather than saying I have to go to Mass. You see the difference? I get to go to Mass every day. I love it. Because I'm in love with him. Can you tell? Yeah, he's a he's I have a we're buddies. We have a relationship. I didn't have that many years ago. So wherever you are in that four groups, that's five. Just come to the Lord and ask him to open your heart because he wants to come in. He wants to set you free. And he wants you to bear fruit. And the fruit he wants you to bear is he wants you to become like him in every way.