On a given Sunday there are many who grace the doors to this Church for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. A very high percentage of these individuals, maybe some 98 percent, find themself in line to receive our Lord in Holy Communion. The reception of our Lord in Holy Communion should never be lowered to becoming a mundane and mindless encounter. After all the one who we receive in Holy Communion is Jesus Christ who is present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Nevertheless, it seems that there are many who fail to contemplate or take seriously this reality.
Our Gospel calls to mind those who “fell away among thorns” as those “who have heard and, going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit.” This gets to an issue which surrounds us in our present age. It seems that many have become mindless drones when it comes to matters of faith. Thus people come to church solely out of habit without coming to contemplate the invitation that the Lord has extended into their life to come and follow after Him.
Instead of being a mindless drone we are invited by our Lord to remain on the good ground for here we discover those “who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.” If we are to fall into this category we must come to take the faith seriously. It cannot just be something that we do out of habit. Our Lord does not want us to blindly walk about this life, but instead to invest ourself in what is taking place before us.
Our attitude on matters of morals and faith cannot come from a spirit of relativism or a spirit of mindlessness. Let us instead enter fully into these Sacred Mysteries, for if not, we will be this seed which has fallen among thorns. It will never take hold and it will never bare fruit. If we find ourself in this category we need to be shaken out of our idleness and into action. This is precisely why the season of Lent is so important for us.
With that we observe this Sexagesima Sunday. Here we are reminded that Lent is ever drawing close. Here we are reminded of the seriousness of this season for through it we place our emphasis upon the practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These practices are important for us to take seriously for through them them we draw close to Christ and are forced to stay awake in our practice of faith. Sadly, there are those who will not take the Lenten season nor these practices seriously and they will remain in their slumber. To this Sacred Scripture attests: “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devout. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.”
