Almighty Spirit, whose power works within us, grant that we should understand what you speak to us and the word that you have placed in our path, that we would not lose what you offer but that your desires for us would take root in our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Father, one God, world without end. Amen. ‘When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.’ – Matthew 13:19