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Living the Gospel – June 17, 2018

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Sowing the Seeds of Faith

We all know that the words Jesus told to a few people grew exponentially to become the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church that it is today. He planted “the seed of faith” to a few. Many of that “few” listened and heard and they took that seed, nurtured it and spread it until the message was heard in every corner of the world.

We have accepted that faith! What does it mean to us? Do we continue to nurture it so that it will grow and continue to spread to be accepted by hearts near and far? Do we sow the seed in our everyday life?

First, we must nurture it in our own life through prayer and the sacraments. Then we can sow the seed, tend the seed to help it grow in those around us by our example of faith, hope, and love. We need to SHOW that our faith is important to us! That the Church is important to us!

Sometimes it may seem like our efforts are fruitless. Do we pray, receive the sacraments, etc., hoping to come closer to Christ and find the same old sins and problems cropping up again and again in our lives? Do we try to provide examples to our children and grandchildren to no avail? God can sometimes work in subtle and frustratingly slow fashion. But if we let Him, he is always at work in our lives. He can work through our weakness and limitations and accomplish what is way beyond what we can imagine. We need to develop patient endurance and unfailing trust. As the seed takes root and flourishes in our own life, we can attempt to transplant it into others. (I remember as a little girl, my dad would get us kids up for school, then go back downstairs to get himself ready for work. Invariably, when we arrived in the kitchen, the coffee was brewing, the oatmeal bubbling and dad would be standing in the middle of the floor, head bowed saying his prayers. No time to go off to a private corner, but God came first!. It must have had some impact on me to remember it all these years later, but I’m sure he wasn’t thinking of my “religious upbringing” while he was doing it. But he WAS sowing a seed!)

A Thoughtful Exercise: I was at a workshop once when the presenter used “Seeds of Faith” as her topic. At the end of the day, she gave us time to (privately) set up a “Board of Spiritual Directors” of those people who were influential in our faith development through the years. She explained that when an organization forms a Board of Directors, they chose people who will bring a certain skill set to the organization: lawyer, accountant, leadership, etc. She wanted us to form “our Spiritual Board of Directors” each of whom brought a certain seed (or nurtured the seed someone else planted) that brought our faith to where it was at that time. Of course, we should pray for them—and if they were still living, thank them! Try it! It was fun, revealing, thought-provoking and indeed, it did make me grateful to them!

When you have done this, think about who might put YOU on their “Spiritual Board of Directors!”

Linda Caminiti