Blossom like the lily (Hosea 14:6)

 

The world is in great need of the love and mercy of Christ.  It’s like a dry and barren land waiting to soak up the gentle rain. We are called, as the gospel says, to be laborers in harvesting the field. (Luke 10:1-12)

We may often feel as though the work of evangelizing and harvesting good fruit for the Kingdom of God is the job for someone else.  It’s so easy to throw our hands up in the air and think, “What can I do?”

Each one of us is called by Jesus in a deeply personal and loving way to go with him into the fields.  Our harvest work might include loving a difficult person more deeply or listening more carefully in conversation, especially when we hear a point of view different from our own.  We can reach out to the many people isolated by the pandemic and ask how they are.  And really listen.

We can turn our attention to the Lord and let Him send us.  Only He knows the mission He has picked for each of us and only He knows what He wants us to harvest.  Our responsibility is to be attentive.  Listen, be open, be ready and be willing.  When we sense Him calling us and sending us, we mustn’t hesitate; instead, we must say “Yes” to His gentle promptings.

We can do this first and foremost through prayer.  The passage in Luke’s gospel says, “Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”  In other words, we should pray that the Lord sends many zealous souls, ourselves included, into the world to attend to the many hearts that are in need.

We don’t have to trap ourselves in the Church all day and force our minds to do nothing but pray and be holy in order to fulfill God’s command.  In fact this isn’t what many of us are called to do.  We’re called to give our lives to God and to in everything we do give glory and praise to God.  Even the smallest tasks can be given to God.  If we love God through our daily tasks it will become evident to those around us; it’ll spread. 

When we’re studying for a big exam, let’s do it for God.  When we’re exercising, let's do it for God.  When we’re driving down the road, let's do it for God.  Let’s dedicate every task in our entire day to God so that we “shall blossom like the lily” (Hosea 14:6), filled with God’s radiance and love.

Today is the Memorial of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, whose brief and cloistered life in a French convent sent spiritual ripples around the world.  She wrote that each task she took on at the convent was always her way of serving God.  The dirtiest kitchen work, the tedium of the laundry and the routine chores of the chapel were all little ways she saw as doing God’s work.

But her most inspiring “little” acts teach us how she got along with difficult people.  In her convent she lived with several women who had little patience with her.  She was devastated at first and deeply hurt by them.  Then she had the insight to pray for a particular sister who seemed to dislike her intensely.  When Thérèse felt her constant prayers for this nun were not enough, and she decided to do more.

As she wrote in her Story of A Soul, “I tried to do as many things for her as I could, and whenever I was tempted to speak unpleasantly to her, I made myself give her a pleasant smile.” After a while, she reports that her feelings truly began to change, and she began to like this sister more.

One memorable day, the sister came to her with a beaming smile.  “Sister Thérèse, will you please tell me what attracts you so much to me?  You give me such a charming smile whenever we meet.”  Her small acts of humility and service, what she called her “self-forgetfulness,” had turned into love for this sister.

Again, in Luke’s gospel Jesus tells us, “Go on your way.”  He sends us into our everyday life, carrying an awareness that He’s beside us, as we practice our own “self-forgetfulness” by putting the needs of another ahead of our own.