A common mentality these days is to get rich without working hard. People want to get rich quick. Never mind how, never mind if it is illegal or immoral, as long as one does not get caught it is fine with them. One of the fastest ways, for a few lucky individuals, is through the lottery. 

There was a study made in the US of lottery winners and it was found out that after three years, most of them finished all that they had won. Why this reality? “Easy come, easy go.” It was not earned through blood, sweat, and tears, hence it was not valued the same way.

The parable of the seed is a popular Gospel reading. It is a very beautiful imagery of our faith.

Three things about the seed:

1. The seed needs to be nurtured. Our faith has to be nurtured through constant reading of the bible, constant reception of the Holy Eucharist, daily prayer of the Rosary, almsgiving and fasting. Our faith cannot be just a Sunday activity and business as usual on weekdays and Saturdays. If athletes have to train every day to be efficient, our faith is not any different.
   
2. As the seed grows, it experiences the wrath of nature. Our faith will always be “tested.” There is nothing certain in life. Sometimes it is sunny, sometimes it is rainy; sometimes it is day, sometimes it is night; sometimes there is plenty, sometimes there is scarcity. Ironically, it is when we grow closer to the Lord, that trials and tribulation increase. Will we hold on or let go?
    
3. There are the weeds and the wheat. As if the wrath nature was not bad enough, we have the devil planting the weeds around us. Remember, this is the greatest battle – spiritual warfare with the devil doing everything from temptation, to oppression, to obsession, to possession – just to bring us away from God.

One of the greatest wonders of nature is seeing trees that are 50-years old, 100-years old and even 200-years old. It is quite hard to imagine that these trees were once seeds, yet this is what we pray for in our own lives. That our faith may withstand the test of time and grow to be huge trees bearing fruit 30 fold, 60 fold and 100 fold.