Each and every one of us are given choices throughout our lives here on earth. We can choose good things, or we can choose not so good or bad things. Some of you may be wondering: “This padre is crazy. Of course we would choose good things. Who in their right mind would choose bad things?” But the funny thing about life is that, there are people who do choose bad things, whether they are aware of it or not. For example, we can choose to eat healthily most of the time, or we could choose to eat junk food or rubbish (in other words, food which may not be good or may be damaging for our health). We could choose to live a life free of addiction and intoxicants, or we could become addicted and dependent on tobacco, liquor, or even drugs. We could choose to speak politely and humbly, or we could choose to use vulgar words or speak in a disgusting tone. Ultimately, our choices could lead to different consequences, some good, some bad.
In the same way, our spiritual life are also full of choices. We could choose to grow faithfully, consistently and humbly closer to God, or we could choose to avoid God. When we are making effort to grow in relationship with God, we are allowing the good seed to be sown into our soul, as mentioned in today’s Gospel. When we sin and neglect or refuse to seek forgiveness through the Sacrament of Confession, we may be sowing darnel into our soul. At the end, there would be wheat or darnel in our soul, and what would happen to us would depend on what we sow. Do we wish to be counted among the subjects of the kingdom, or do we rather end up as subjects of the evil one? It may seem strange or odd, but ultimately, we choose what the outcome would be, depending on the way we lived our lives.
Today, may we be prudent and make a choice. We call such a choice a fundamental option, where we choose to live a life with God, or away from God. May we choose wisely, since our eternal future is at stake.