Pope's Intention for June

The Beauty of Marriage
Let us pray for young people who are preparing for marriage with the support of a Christian community: may they grow in love, with generosity, faithfulness and patience.

 

Gospel Reflection

The mystery of growth

A farmer scatters seed on the good soil

of Galilee. Having done the sowing,

all he can do is attend to other things,

while the seed takes over and does its

own work, producing first the shoot,

then the ear, then the full grain in the

car, until the crop is ready for harvest.

In the parable the famer does not

know how all this happens. Between

his actions of sowing the secd and

harvesting the crop nature takes over

in a way that he does not fully

understand. There is a great deal in

our world which we do not fully

understand, in spite of the great

progress over the centuries on all

aspects of science.

There is a reassuring message here for

any who are discouraged by the slow

progress of goodness in the world. The

spreading of God's reign is ultimately

the work of God.. and that work is

going on even when we do not see it

or understand it.

 

We have a part to play in bringing

about love and justice among us just as the farmer

has a role to play in the

coming of the final harvest. However,

that first parable in the gospel warns

us against overestimating our role. St

Paul expresses this perspective well in

his first letter to the Corinthians,

"Neither the one who plants, nor the

one who waters is anything, but only

God who gives the growth".

(Intercom magazine)