If Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

Reflection on the 15th Sunday in the Ordinary Time by Fr Jason Laguerta.

I love sports and watch almost every kind of sport. Lately, I have been staying up late to watch football matches, and to be honest, while many people prefer basketball, I have always favored football. Basketball is often about scoring as many points as possible, with players constantly running up and down the court. Football, on the other hand, is a game of patience, strategy, and artistry where you do not rush the play or force an opportunity. Instead, you wait, observe, and prepare until the right moment arrives. That is why football matches are often decided by just one or two goals, but every pass, every move, and every goal carries significance.

Perhaps that is one reason football offers an important lesson about life: that some things in life cannot be gained instantly or through shortcuts. Like in football, you first have to plant, persevere, and be patient. You study the field, understand your opponent, and wait for the right opportunity before making your move. Watching football and playing a lot in high school, I learned that success often comes from patience rather than haste, for many of us struggle because we are always in a hurry, wanting results before the time is right.

This lesson connects beautifully with both the First Reading from the Prophet Isaiah and the Gospel's Parable of the Sower because both speak about seeds and growth. A seed does not sprout overnight, but it requires time, care, and favorable conditions. In the same way, many of God's blessings unfold gradually. We may pray today, but the answer may not come tomorrow. We may work hard now, but the fruit of our labor may only become visible much later. Growth follows God's timing, not ours.

However, the Parable of the Sower is not just about the seed to be sown, but the soil where the seed is being sown into. It also reminds us to wait patiently for growth and to prepare the soil before planting. This means that while God never lacks blessings to give, but our hearts must be open, ready, and free from distractions to receive them because oftentimes, the challenge is not the seed, but whether our hearts are prepared for what God wants to plant in us.

There is a beautiful French word for this disposition: disponibilité, which refers to an openness and receptivity of heart, a willingness to receive whatever God desires to give. Because when the heart is cluttered with distractions, worries, resentment, or pride, it becomes difficult for God's grace to take root. Blessings may be present, but they pass unnoticed because the heart is not prepared to welcome them.

And I was reminded of this recently when I attended two separate 85th birthday celebrations. Both celebrants had received the same extraordinary blessing of a long life, yet they experienced it very differently – one was filled with gratitude, thanking God for family, friends, and countless blessings through the years, while the other f ocused mainly on disappointments and lamented being forgotten. The blessing was the same, but the difference lay in how it was received. Gratitude brought joy, while bitterness overshadowed the gift.

On another note, let me also share this ancient principle I often ask my students to remember all throughout the semester: Quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur – "Whatever is received is received according to the manner of the receiver." Because in a classroom, students receive the same lesson, the same textbook, and the same lecture, yet their results differ because learning depends not only on what is given but also on how it is received and applied, which is the same in life.

Thus, perhaps, the most important question raised by the Parable of the Sower is this: What kind of soil are we? Are our hearts hard and closed? Are they crowded with worries and distractions? Are they filled with thorns of resentment and negativity? Or are they rich soil, ready to receive both blessings and challenges as opportunities for growth?

In psychological terms, what matters most is often not what happens to us but how we interpret and respond to what happens. The same experience can make one person better and another bitter because life is not defined solely by what we receive, but by what we do with what we receive.

And today, the Lord invites us to cultivate hearts of disponibilité – hearts that are grateful, humble, receptive, and open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us not simply react to life's circumstances like a water dispenser that gives only what is pressed. Instead, let us become like a water purifier, transforming difficulties, disappointments, and hardships into something life-giving and fruitful.

Again, the Parable of the Sower is ultimately not about what happens to you; it is about what you do with what happens to you. Thus, if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And if God plants a seed in your heart, make sure the soil is ready so that it may grow, flourish, and bear abundant fruit.

Transcribed by Agnes Riel