[00:00] My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Lord invites each one of us to confront deeply personal questions. What kind of soil is my heart? Many hearts today can no longer be penetrated by the Word of God, not because God has stopped

[00:34] speaking, nor because He is absent, but because our hearts have become wounded, hardened, distracted, and divided. Some hearts are burdened by sin, bitterness, unforgiveness, addictions, pride, or worldly attachment. Others are weighed down by anxiety, disappointment, and discouragement.

[01:09] When our hearts are closed, the Word of God cannot take root. When the Word cannot take root, grace cannot grow, healing cannot begin, and true conversion cannot take place. There is a well-known saying, "Ignorance of the law excuses no one." Even if we do not know the law, we are still responsible because we have the opportunity

[01:44] to seek the truth and learn it. The same is true with the Word of God. Jesus spoke clearly. He has taught us through His preaching, His miracles, and His parables. Therefore, none of us can say, "I did not know," or "That message was not meant for me." The Gospel is for everyone. Jesus speaks to every human heart, the rich and the poor, the sinner and the saint, the

[02:22] broken and the wounded. In today's Gospel, Jesus presents the parable of the sower. The seed is the Word of God, and the different kinds of soil represent the condition of our hearts. The first is the footpath, the closed heart. This is the person who refuses to listen to God. Some may say, "The Church is outdated."

[02:55] "I do not need the sacraments," or "I can live without God." Their lives become filled with noise, endless entertainment, unworthy distractions, leaving little room for prayer or silence. The seed never enters because the heart remains closed. The second is the rocky ground, the shallow heart.

[03:27] These are people who receive God's Word with great enthusiasm. They attend retreats, conferences, parish missions. They are inspired for a time, but when suffering, sacrifice, or persecution comes, their faith quickly fades. Without deep roots, they cannot persevere. The third is the thorny ground, the distracted heart.

[04:01] These people believe in God, but little by little, the worries of life, the pursuit of wealth, success, comfort, and materialistic possessions choke their spiritual lives. Prayer becomes optional. Sunday Mass becomes routine. God and Jesus Christ are no longer the center of their lives. Some of you here have received beautiful spirituality through the Columbian and Franciscan Marian

[04:39] Formation. Thanks be to God for that gift. But formation once a month is not enough. Our relationship with Christ and our Blessed Mother must be nourished constantly through prayer, Scripture, spiritual readings, and faithful Catholic media. That is why I encourage you to listen to or watch the different programs and reflections

[05:09] that we, the Franciscan Parish of the Immaculate, provide on various platforms. We share not our own ideas, but the rich spiritual heritage handed down by our founders. Most of us have had a personal encounter; we have heard from the mouth of our founders, great professors who really lived truly their consecration to Our Lady.

[05:44] Inspired by the teachings of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who had extraordinary love and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, I remember that one of our channels, Air Maria of Franciscan Friars, has more than 110,000 subscribers, yet only a small percentage can imagine 200 views. Where is the many?

[06:14] Of the United States? Or throughout the world? It's really a reach of spirituality, 200, not only for Facebook, but on YouTube. And really, I encourage you to watch those homilies and spiritual reflections. Imagine how much our lives could change if we spent as much time listening to the Word of God as we spend on social media, television, or other forms of entertainment.

[06:46] Our faith cannot grow unless we continually nourish it. Finally, there is the good soil. There are the people who hear the Word of God, welcome it with humility, live it faithfully, and bear abundant fruit. They allow God not only to speak to them, but also to transform them. Jesus also tells us that some plants, whether because they have no roots, roots are hidden

[07:23] beneath the ground. They are unseen, yet they give life, strength, and stability to the entire tree. In the same way, our spiritual roots determine whether our faith will survive the storms of life. Our deepest root is our identity as children of God. As St. Augustine reminds us, although we are many, we become one in Christ.

[07:55] Our dignity does not come from our achievements, our position, or the opinions of others. Our true dignity comes from belonging to Jesus Christ. Another essential root is self-denial. Holiness begins when we stop asking, "What do I want?" And begin asking, "Lord, what do You want?" Every authentic disciple must learn to carry the cross before wearing the crown.

[08:30] Above all, the strongest root is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When Christ becomes the root of our lives, our thoughts, our words, our decisions, and our actions begin to reflect Him. My brothers and sisters, many people struggle today because their hearts have been deeply wounded. Some carry resentment, painful memories, broken family relationships, addictions, fear, or

[09:08] even spiritual oppression. Others are trapped by pride, envy, greed, lust, anger, or hatred. These are the thorns that slowly choke the seed of God's Word until it can no longer bear fruit. But today the Gospel brings us wonderful news. The Lord does not come to condemn us. He comes to heal us. He comes to forgive us.

[09:40] He comes to set us free. He comes to remove every stone, every thorn, every obstacle that prevents His Word from taking root in our hearts. The first reading from Isaiah fills us with hope. God's Word is like the rain and the snow that falls upon the earth. They never return without watering the earth and making it fruitful.

[10:11] In the same way, God's Word never returns empty. If we open our hearts to Him, His Word will transform us, heal our wounds, restore our lives, and lead us back to the Father. Finally, we turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose heart was the perfect soil for the Word of God. She listened with implicit faith.

[10:43] She welcomed God's plan with profound humility. She treasured His Word in her heart and remained faithful even at the foot of the cross. St. Maximilian Kolbe taught that consecration to Mary is an unconditional offering of ourselves to her, becoming her property and possession so that she may lead us entirely to Jesus. We place our body and soul, our past, our present, our future, even our eternity, into

[11:20] her maternal hands, allowing her to use us as an instrument for the triumph of Christ's kingdom. St. John Paul II beautifully explained that to consecrate ourselves to Mary is to accept her motherly help in offering ourselves completely to Jesus, the Holy One beneath the cross. Her maternal heart was open to every human person, and she continues to lead her children

[11:56] to her Son. She helps remove the stones of pride, the thorns of worldly attachment, and the hardness caused by sin. She protects us from the seduction of the world, the weakness of the flesh, and the attacks of the devil, always leading us closer to Jesus. St. Bernard of Clairvaux beautifully taught that Mary is like an aqueduct through which

[12:33] God lovingly pours His graces upon His children. She safeguards those graces so that they may bear lasting fruit in our lives. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today Jesus asks each one of us one simple but life-changing question. What kind of soil is your heart?

[13:04] What kind of soil is in my heart? Is it the hardened path? The rocky ground?