Do we have an attitude of “confident expectation?” This attitude of patience and trust is needed for the Christian, the Pope said before praying the midday Angelus on June 16.
The Holy Father drew this lesson from the image of the seed with which Jesus speaks of his Kingdom.
In sowing, no matter how good or abundant the seed the farmer scatters, or how well he prepares the land, the plants do not sprout immediately: It takes time and it takes patience! Therefore, it is necessary that, after having sown, he knows how to wait confidently, to allow the seeds to open at the right moment and the shoots to sprout from the seed and grow, strong enough to guarantee, at the end, an abundant harvest (cf. vv. 28-29). Underground the miracle is already in progress (cf. v. 27), there is enormous development, but it is invisible, it takes patience, and in the meantime it is necessary to to keep tending the turf, watering it and keeping it clean, despite the fact that on the surface nothing seems to be happening.
The Pope said that in just this way, God places within us the “seeds of His word and His grace, good seeds, abundant seeds, and then, without ever ceasing to accompany us, He waits patiently.”
The Lord continues to take care of us, with the confidence of a Father, but He gives us time – the Lord is patient – so that the seeds open, grow and develop to the point of bearing the fruits of good works. And this is because He wants nothing in His field to be lost, that everything should reach full maturity; He wants us all to be able to grow like ears of grain.
Not only this. By doing so, the Lord gives us an example: He teaches us too to sow the Gospel confidently wherever we are, and then to wait for the seed that has been sown to grow and bear fruit in us and in others, without becoming discouraged and without ceasing to support and help each other even where, despite our efforts, we do not seem to see immediate results. In fact, often even among us, beyond appearances, the miracle is already underway, and in due course it will bear abundant fruit!
The Pope thus suggested that we ask ourselves some questions, and entrusted this process to the Virgin, “who welcomed and made the seed of the Word grow within her”:
Do I let the Word be sown in me?
Do I too sow the Word of God with confidence in the places where I live?
Do I wait patiently, or am I discouraged because I do not see the results immediately?
And do I know how to entrust everything serenely to the Lord, while doing my best to proclaim the Gospel?
