The soul of man is barren and unfruitful till the Word of God comes down upon it like the rain from heaven, and it is watered with the dew of His life-giving grace. When but a little sprinkling of the latter enters and softens it, what a rich crop of graces, and what a harvest of good works will be produced. Is your heart so full of malice and hatred that the most humble suppliant can expect no forgiveness? Is it so full of revenge and wrath that the roaring sea, agitated by a tempest, is more easy to be calmed and made still? Is it so penurious and fond of money, that no wretched object, no call of charity, can get a penny from its grip? Is it so wanton, impure, and profligate that it is glad when evil is done, and rejoices in wicked things? Yet, when the Spirit of God comes with the Word of God upon it, the stone will be turned to flesh, the tumultuous sea hushed into calm, the mountains of Gilboa, barren and scorched, become fields of first-fruits. Mark some of the recorded changes - Zaccheus, the greedy publican and hard-hearted tax gatherer, restores four-fold what he had wronged any man of, and gives half of his goods to the poor. Saul, the persecutor, becomes from an enemy, raging like a wild beast against them, gentle as a lamb, and loving to the disciples of the Lord Jesus. The careless heathen, Felix, trembles like an aspen leaf, as the apostle speaks before him of justice, and chastity, and the judgment to come. Peter leaves his boats and his fishing nets to catch men in the net of the gospel. He that hath ears to hear let him hear, with earnest, persevering prayer, that the gospel may be to him, not in word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fulness, for the converting, renovating grace of Christ is the same as ever, and not less needed by us now than of old time.
- text taken from Daily Bread - Bring a Few Morning Meditations for the Use of Catholic Christians by Father Richard Waldo Sibthorp