[00:00] Today's reading from the Book of Proverbs gives many visuals that pertain to the Gospel. We know that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the closest to our Lord's heart, that she kept the Word of God and she was the one who gives us an example, gives the whole Church an example

[00:35] of what it is supposed to be. Some have taken the Gospel that we read today as basically against the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in our spiritual life because it seemed like our Lord was just dismissing her and His brothers, His relatives, and it's actually the opposite because our Lord gave her an even greater compliment because before she conceived our Lord in her womb, she had already

[01:09] conceived of our Lord in her heart. What made Our Lady the greatest of all human beings was the fact that she never strayed from the will of God and it was through her fiat, her doing the will of God, that our Lord was conceived and God was made man, come down to us in the flesh.

[01:41] So our Lord is actually complimenting Our Lady, which gives us a reflection for ourselves that how much are we following the Word of God in our lives? Are we like those who basically follow our own ways, that are just in our own eyes? Are we like the person in the Book of Proverbs in this vivid visual that God gives us, that

[02:16] those who basically make their wealth and riches from lying are like someone who's chasing a bubble over snares? Have you ever seen the kids who, you know, they have little bubble makers or the little sticks and they blow a bubble and they're running after it and whatever it touches, it's just like it's so fragile that it bursts, you know, it's almost like an exercise in futility, you know, but kids love chasing these bubbles, lands on the ground, it bursts.

[02:49] What do they do when they finally catch it? It bursts, you know, only the odd time you might see one landing on something that actually stays for a second, but for the most part, you know, you can imagine that visual that God gives when we chase after the things, basically what He's saying is chasing after our own will. It's almost like God's looking down at us like children who are chasing these bubbles around that are so fragile, yet we put everything that we're looking for in things that are

[03:26] fragile and unless it has its foundation on the will of God, then it's like a bubble that's bound to burst at some point. So, the other visual He gives us in the Book of Proverbs is the heart of the king is like a river in the hands of our Lord. Well, first of all, we know that water, you can't really hold water. God obviously is the creator of all things.

[03:59] In His providence, He guides everything to its fulfillment and His will will never be thwarted and He even directs the heart of a king that seems like it's powerful and whatever the king desires, he goes for it, but ultimately, it is the Lord who guides that river and we know that river, like electricity, always chooses the path of least resistance. It's almost like someone who's a ruler who just decides to do whatever pleases him, but

[04:31] our Lord can still guide the river of His plan, of His providence in the direction that He wills it because ultimately, God's plan will never be altered or prevented by the will of man. So, it's up to us if we dispose our hearts to allow our Lord to direct us. It is up to us to conceive first our Lord in our hearts in order that we might insert

[05:07] ourselves into His plan and recognize His plan when He instructs us, as it says also in Proverbs that a wise man who is instructed learns wisdom, who gains knowledge because it's those who are proud who do not learn from instruction. They dismiss it because they already know everything, but we are always keeping our

[05:39] hearts and minds to understanding what it is that God wants of us so that we may put it into practice and follow the plan that He has for us in our lives. I remember Father John Hardin sort of encapsulates everything that we're talking about, everything that we've read in those who, he said, if you're not doing God's will, he said it doesn't matter how much you go to the back of the church and douse yourself with holy water,

[06:10] it's not going to make a difference. These things are only as powerful as we are following the will of God. When we're following the will of God, the blessings of God come upon us because we are opening our hearts and our wills to Him. So let us take the words of Proverbs and also of the Gospel and realize that the most important

[06:41] thing to God is that we pray for His will, that we are open, disposed to, like in the Gospel on Sunday, you know, the Word of God can be thrown everywhere, you know, it's like the seed that's thrown in all different paths, but it's the, it's only the ground that is disposed, which bears fruit, that allows the seed to grow and take root and produce fruit. So it's the same with our hearts.

[07:13] We produce the fruit depending on the disposition of our hearts. So let us pray to God for that disposition of heart, first of all, so that we might be able to gain knowledge from instruction like the wise man, so that we're not chasing bubbles over thorn bushes or snares that might catch us up.

[07:44] Let us follow God's will. Let us be kings, just like prophets, priests, prophets, and kings, that's our vocation. After baptism, let us be those kings that allow the stream of God's plan to direct our hearts, so that we will always be following God's plan and ultimately leading to our happiness,

[08:15] because our hearts are restless until they rest in God.