Calling all Green Thumbs!

Prayer for the Day

Saint Joachim and Saint Anne Prayer

Great and glorious patriarch, St Joachim, and good St Anne, what joy is mine when I consider that you were chosen among all God's holy ones to assist in the fulfillment of the mysteries of God, and to enrich our earth with the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.

By this singular privilege, you have become most powerful with both the Mother and her Son, so as to be able to obtain for us the graces that are needful to us.

With great confidence I have recourse to your mighty protection, and I commend to you all my needs, both spiritual and temporal, and those of my family.

Especially do I entrust to your keeping the particular favor that I desire and look for from your intercession.

And since you were a perfect pattern of the interior life, obtain for me the grace to pray earnestly, and never to set my heart on the passing goods of this life. Give me a lively and enduring love for Jesus and Mary.

Obtain for me also a sincere devotion and obedience to Holy church and the sovereign pontiff who rules over her, in order that I may live and die in faith and hope and perfect charity.

Let me ever invoke the holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

And may I thus be saved.   Amen.

Reflection

Since tomorrow is the Feast Day of Sts. Joachim and Anne (Jesus’ grandparents, according to tradition), I was going to reflect on how much I rely on their intercession now that I am a grandfather.  So naturally, my thoughts turned to Lily. I love that kid so much! She cracks me up! She is 2 ½ years old and learning more and more each day. Her mom and Marilyn have her to themselves most of the week when I’m at work, so I get the privilege of spoiling her when I get home on weekends!  One of the ways I can do that and still be involved in teaching her is to watch a couple of her favorite cartoons with her—“Super Why” and “Dirt Girl World”.  “Super Why” has been a great help in teaching her the ABC’s and basics of reading by phonics—and a “plus” for me is that I never outgrew cartoons myself..  But for fun—and learning about the Earth and its resources—“Dirt Girl World” can’t be beat.  Thinking about these programs I share with Lily I found myself reflecting again on the 7 parables that Jesus presents in Matthew 13, about the kingdom of God and how seeds, sowing, growing, reaping, soil and so forth resemble the kingdom. I know that most of my posts lately have seemed redundant in content, and I’m sorry about that; but usually I just start typing after reading the next day’s Old and New Testament and let the Holy Spirit take over!  He must think I need to meditate on this subject a bit more! 

Jesus points out that we need good seed and soil for a crop to grow healthy and strong. But what else is needed? Certainly, we need water and abundant sunshine; maybe some fertilizer and some cultivation to allow all the water and nutrients to pass freely to the roots of the crop. While not mentioned in the parables, I think these things must be present in our lives as Christians if we are to grow in Him.

To quote “Dirt Girl”:  Calling all “Green thumbs”!  I challenge you to grow a “Kingdom of Heaven Garden”! Here’s how to do it:

We need a daily watering of prayer. Prayer is that time we have with the Lord when our souls are filled with the Lord Himself as he brings us living water.

We need the abundant sunshine of Holy Communion. As all things grow with energy from the sun, we too grow with the blessing of the Eucharist.

We need the fertilizer of the Word of God in regular scripture reading. This is where our nourishment comes from and where we get the good things we need to grow.

Finally, we need the regular cultivation found in reconciliation and penance. This is where the crusty, hard parts of our soil are broken down so the water, sun and Word can pass to our roots and help us grow as Christians.

So, we have the seed, sower, reaper and all things in between. With these, Jesus' crop grows strong and healthy.

Maybe I’ll start blogging on the Old Testament for the rest of the week, but for now, I’m going to visit Lily’s blog and get back to waiting for the weekend when I can see her again in person!