Blocking the Seed

When Jesus spoke of the sower and the seed, he described it falling on the path, on rocky ground and among thorns.  In all these cases, nothing grows.  We can understand the path where feet trample it, or the rocky ground where it cannot take root, but in the thorns, there is a little budding, however, eventually the tender plant gets choked out and withers.   How often do we hear the readings at Mass and because of thinking of other things, we can't recall what was just read?  We really didn't hear it, it didn't sink in.  Our thoughts, our planning for the day, blocked it from finding  the good soil of our hearts.   The same happens in our personal prayer.  How do we  cut the "weeds"?  We lead such busy lives that our daily clutter is bound to remain with us.  We can begin Mass or our prayer by asking God to help us cut the weeds and throw them into the mulch pit where later on they will do some good.    Another simple way is to simply let the thoughts drift by as a sailboat on the water without giving them too much attention.  Soon they are gone and the mind is clear again.  Our limited prayer time is too precious to allow anything to block our reception of God's seed.
Bro. Rene