The gospel today speaks of the various types of soils and their ability to receive and nourish seeds. We don’t need advanced work in agrarian studies to know that better soils will support the growth of plants better than clay. The image of various soils may leave us with the attitude that there is nothing I can do since God gave me what have. As one sign on a college wall read, “you are perfect they way you are.” Most Catholic theologians would beg to differ with the idea of this sign. First, if we were perfect, Jesus could have saved himself a trip. Second, we are not perfect and we need to do something about it. The idea of good soil is an analogy, and like all analogies, they “limp” meaning they are not perfect expressions of conveying the truth. Ignatius understood that human nature was not pre-determined and with good formation, joined with God’s grace and human cooperation, one could transform arid soil into a better means for receiving God’s grace and acting on that grace. Ignatius held to the scholastic idea that grace perfects nature and that an improved nature provides a better vehicle for grace. Is it any surprise that the Jesuits quickly turned to education? Although the Jesuits at the beginning of the order saw themselves as men on the move, the sedentary life of schools had a greater attraction to Ignatius. He realized that preparing the soil for God’s presence was one of the most important works the Jesuits could do.