In the gospel reading today, Jesus speaks about faith, with God as the sower and our hearts as the different kinds of soil, allowing different levels of growth.

Faith is a gift from God. We believe because God allows us to do so. In our world today, there are many who are sincerely searching for something that the world cannot offer. At some point, when the time is right, God will surely send someone into our lives, as His instrument, to share the Word of God with us.

Some may take it with a pinch of salt, while others do not seem to comprehend at all or even reject it totally due to worldly values. Some may believe in the Word instantaneously, although the 'staying power' will differ. There are some who so yearn for the Word of God that they absorb every morsel like a dry sponge. This initial openness surely is a gift from God. From then on however, the onus is on us to allow the initial faith to grow bountifully, through prayer and immersion in the Word. This involves perseverance and total trust and dependence on the Lord and also growing with the community of faith.