Hello Holy Trinity family,

Wow! Thank you all so much for your warm and enthusiastic welcome last week. I am very lucky to have been assigned here as your Administrator, and I look forward to growing in charity, faith, hope, and love with all of you.

On this Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the readings invite us to consider the condition of our hearts. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the sower. The seed is generous: it falls on the path, rocky ground, thorny soil, and good soil. God’s word is offered freely to every person, but its fruit depends on how we receive it.

At times, our hearts resemble the path when busyness, distraction, or worry keeps us from hearing God. We may attend Mass, hear the readings, and quickly move on without allowing the message to shape our choices. Our hearts can be rocky when faith is present but shallow—strong when life is easy, yet easily discouraged when prayer feels dry or difficulties arise. The thorns may be our schedules, possessions, ambitions, resentments, or anxieties that slowly crowd out time for God and attention to others.

Yet Jesus also speaks of good soil. Good soil is not perfect soil; it is soil that has been prepared. We prepare our hearts through prayer, Scripture, the sacraments, forgiveness, and acts of charity. We become good soil when we choose patience with a family member, honesty at work, generosity toward someone in need, or quiet compassion for a neighbor who is struggling.

Isaiah reminds us that God’s word does not return empty. Even when we cannot immediately see its results, God is at work. This week, we might ask: What is choking out God’s word in me? What small practice could make my heart more open? If we welcome the seed with trust and perseverance, God can bring forth a harvest far beyond what we imagine.

-Fr. Jonathan