Daily reflection _ throughout my life you were there

THROUGHOUT MY LIFE YOU WERE THERE
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord."
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
In today's responsorial psalm we pray, "I will sing of Your salvation. On You I depend from birth; from my mother's womb You are my strength" (Ps 71:6). The following words from Fr. Carlos Valles, S.J. seem to flow from this psalm:
You have been in my life, Lord, for as far as my memory goes back. That is my joy and my boast. My childhood, my youth, and my adulthood have all been under the shadow of Your hand. I learned Your name from my mother's lips, I called You friend before I had any other friend, I uncovered my soul to You as I did to no else. I look back on my life, and I see it full of You, Lord, in my thoughts and in my joys and in my sorrows. I have walked with You through lights and shadows, and that is, in the smallness of my humility, the greatness of my call. Thank You for being with me through my life, Lord.
When we read the parable in today's Gospel it's easy to imagine Jesus including a command to "be good soil." After all, we want to bear fruit for our heavenly Father, don't we? In Jesus, God's kingdom is planted everywhere throughout this earth. God's grace is widespread. The Scriptures frequently use the image of fruit-bearing plants or trees to convey the principle of spiritual life. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit" (Jer 17:7-8; Ps 1:3).
This is the result of what will happen when we reflect upon our lives and are able to see them full of God and His goodness within us!