Dear All,
Again, we have looked to the readings given to us for Sunday and found that this week there is a lot to make us mindful of creation, the garden, our earth – the psalm in particular rejoices in God’s wonderful creation: ’God’s ever-flowing river brims over’, ‘You crown the air with your bounty’ and so on. The gospel is the one about the sower & the seed. So it is a creation theme. Included is part of a reflection of Pope Francis on that parable.
Our blessing this week comes from ‘Heavenly Peace’ and is ‘The Peace of Christ be with you’. We wish you all a peaceful weekend and coming week & send love to each one of you.
Reminder – no zoomed Evening Prayer: July on Sunday 19, Monday 20, Thurs 23, Friday 24 (Community only), Sunday 26 July. We will remind you nearer the time.
Pope Francis on the parable of the Sower & his Seed.
Every parable tells a story that is taken from everyday life, yet wants to tell us something more, to refer us to a deeper meaning. The parable raises questions in us; it invites us not to stop at appearances. Before the story that is told or the image that is presented to me, I can ask myself: where am I in this story? What does this image say to my life?
The parable of the sower talks precisely about the dynamic of the word of God and the effects it produces. Indeed, every word of the Gospel is like a seed that is thrown on the ground of our life. Jesus uses the image of the seed many times, with different meanings. In chapter 13 of the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the sower introduces a series of other short parables, some of which talk precisely about what is happening on the terrain: the wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed, the treasure hidden in the field. What, then, is this soil? It is our heart, but it is also the world, the community, the Church. The word of God, in fact, makes fruitful and provokes every reality.
A rather unusual sower goes out to sow, but does not care where the seed falls. He throws the seeds even where it is unlikely they will bear fruit: on the path, on the rocks, among the thorns. This attitude surprises the listener and induces him to ask: how come?
We are used to calculating things – and at times it is necessary – but this does not apply in love! The way in which this “wasteful” sower throws the seed is an image of the way God loves us. Indeed, it is true that the destiny of the seed depends also on the way in which the earth welcomes it and the situation in which it finds itself, but first and foremost in this parable Jesus tells us that God throws the seed of his Word on all kinds of soil, that is, in any situation of ours: at times we are more superficial and distracted, at times we let ourselves get carried away by enthusiasm, sometimes we are burdened by life’s worries, but there are also times when we are willing and welcoming. God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom. This is how he loves us: he does not wait for us to become the best soil, but he always generously gives us his word. Perhaps by seeing that he trusts us, the desire to be better soil will be kindled in us. This is hope, founded on the rock of God’s generosity and mercy.
The Glory Of The Garden
By Rudyard Kipling
Our England is a garden that is full of stately views,
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;
But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.
For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall,
You’ll find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all
The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dung-pits and the tanks,
The rollers, carts, and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks.
And there you’ll see the gardeners, the men and ‘prentice boys
Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise ;
For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,
The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words.
And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows ;
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,
For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come.
Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
By singing, “Oh, how beautiful,” and sitting in the shade
While better men than we go out and start their working lives
At grubbing weeds from gravel-paths with broken dinner-knives.
There’s not a pair of legs so thin, there’s not a head so thick,
There’s not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick
But it can find some needful job that’s crying to be done,
For the Glory of the Garden glorifieth every one.
Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders,
If it’s only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders;
And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden,
You will find yourself a partner In the Glory of the Garden.
Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardener’s work is done upon his knees,
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray
For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away!
And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away!
Encountering Christ in Nature
Without a sense of the inherent sacredness of the world—of every tiny bit of life and death—we struggle to see God in our own reality, let alone to respect reality, protect it, or love it. The consequences of this ignorance are all around us, seen in the way we have exploited and damaged our fellow human beings, the dear animals, the web of growing things, the land, the waters, and the very air. We are invited us to experience Christ in nature:
What difference would it make to the quality of our lives, I wonder, if we spent a little more time in nature? Would paying attention to the life cycles of animals or the annual changes of landscapes give us an increased sense of respect for the environment? Ordinary experiences of nature can renew our sense of reverence and remind us of how deeply interconnected we all are.
Be Reborn
Tim Fallon
Today, each day, all days – be reborn.
Return to nakedness before your Creator.
Walk in the garden and listen to each song and sound anew.
Hear your name again, and yet for the first time.
Know the cry you first uttered.
Invest yourself as much in each word as you did in your first.
Discover again the newness of life
the freshness of air
the coolness of water
the power of wind.
Discover again the mystery of God
The unity of all that is
Live in the present – live it all,
dare to experience it totally
to embrace it
to break into it – even if it breaks you.