Right Disposition

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear." (Matthew 13:1-9)

One way to interpret this Gospel reading is to assume the seed is the Eucharist. We all receive it, but how fertile is our ground; that is, how receptive are we to its transformative powers?  Take the Body of Christ as if it is a stale, circular pierce bread, and what do we get: a stale, circular piece of bread.  Sacraments cannot have the proper effect without the corresponding attitude of the recipient; that is, the right “disposition” (my emphasis).

According to the Catechism, “The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ, and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.  The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper for each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions" (my emphasis).

Furthermore, according to Catechism 1128, This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of the action's being performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God." From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them (my emphasis).

Yes, it is about the right disposition.  This means we must be rich soil.  When so, we will produce fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

Deacon David Pierce