Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15 / Matthew 13:1-9
Now and then, we hear of this phrase "the good old days". This brings about a nostalgia for the past, and memories of the not-the-distant past are revived, romanticized and even glorified.
No doubt, there were some good in those old days, but it was not always the "good old days". And to keep saying that would mean that we keep living in the past and the present is not good enough.
Exodus 12:40 declared that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years. That was a very long time, and to think that at least for the latter half of that time, they were slaves in Egypt.
But after they were freed from slavery in Egypt and were wandering in the desert, and faced with hunger and thirst, their common complaint was "back in Egypt". Somehow the days of slavery and suffering and oppression seemed like the "good old days" compared with freedom, although it was in the harsh environment of the desert.
As we heard in the 1st reading, the Israelites complained - Why did we not die at the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, when we were able to sit down to pans of meat and could eat bread to our heart's content!
Somehow the trials of the present make the past seems rosy and cosy. And because of that we miss counting the blessings of the present.
So as much as God is blessing us here and now, if our hearts are like that of various types of ground that are described in the gospel, then we need to re-look at our hearts.
Let us present our hearts to the Lord and ask Him to make our hearts like rich fertile soil so that His blessings will bring about a harvest of thanksgiving and so we can say "The Lord is good to us"