Hebrews 10:11-18 / Mark 4:1-20
It is a known fact that in some countries that are so-called "traditionally Catholic", church attendance has declined and in some cases declined drastically.
If that is disturbing enough, then what is more disturbing are the statistics from the survey done in the Church in our own country, about two years ago.
From those statistics, what is glaring and alarming is that two out of three Catholics are not going to church anymore.
If we think that the survey is rather skewed in that it is inaccurate and misleading, then we may just have to look around us and be honest about the reality of things.
We know of at least some members of our own family, as well of those of our relations and friends, who have "dropped out" of church.
Collectively, they can come up to quite a number. So what is happening? Why are they not coming to church anymore? Or have they gone to another church or what?
Well, the reasons are as many as the seeds in the gospel parable that do not end up bearing a harvest.
But just as the sower will continue to sow, so must we continue to pray for those who have left the church.
More than that, we also need to take stock of our faith and ask ourselves if we are bearing fruits of love and bearing witness to the joy of our life in Christ.
When others see how we live out our faith, then they will know whether they are missing out on anything or not.