PLANT SOMETHING!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 3^rd Friday in Ordinary Time is, “Plant Something!”

I want to get into the issue of growth:  the waiting - the time it takes - the hope it takes - the watering and the work -  and then the surprise of seeing the results or one’s planting and cultivating.

Today’s gospel story about the mustard seed triggered these thoughts.

PLANTING SEEDS

Imagine going through a whole lifetime without ever planting something.

I have a vague memory of being a little kid and noticing the seeds in a watermelon that my mom bought and brought home for us.

Picture a little kid seeing an enormous watermelon for the first time - the cutting it in half - and then the red slices. Wow! Did anyone look at my face and my eyes seeing the inside of a watermelon for the first time?

I asked my dad or mom or someone in the family - I’m the youngest of 4 - “If I planted these watermelon seeds will I get another watermelon?” Someone said, “Try it!” I planted the seeds in our backyard and all I got was some green sprouts - but I was thrilled when I saw those sprouts. I waited and waited - no watermelon.

I did the same with honeydew melon seeds - and once more I only got green sprouts. I wonder if either of those 2 plantings are still growing in Brooklyn in a backyard on 62 Street - between 3^rd and 4^th Avenues.

I also remembering spotting flower seeds somewhere along the line - along with grass seed. I planted both and got flowers - as well as grass growing - where there was none before.

What are your stories about planting and seeing the results?

When I got to the Minor Seminary in my hopes of becoming a priest I got in on picking tomatoes as well as picking grapes and strawberries. I also worked on the Lawn Crew for 3 years. I was also on the Lawn Crew in our novitiate year. I was also on the lawn crew in the Major Seminary for 6 years.

All this was good for a city kid. We had a front yard - which wasn’t that big - but we had nice hedges. I loved watching my dad cut those dark green hedges with  those big sharp hedge cutters - the biggest scissors I’ve ever seen.  We also had that small back yard where I had planted the watermelon and honeydew melon seeds. After I went away for the priesthood my father got into planting tomatoes and zucchini. I missed out on that.

In the major seminary I also took care of horses. A team of two guys would be on for a week, every 5^th week.  Twice a day we’d go down to the barn. It would be early morning before everything for feeding them and then again in afternoon after class. The afternoon chore was more extensive - not just feeding our 3 horses - but also shoveling horse manure. That would take 20 minutes and the smell demanded a shower afterwards. I noticed that things grew much better with fertilizer.

In the major seminary we also worked lifting rectangular bales of hay from our fields and tossing them onto a flat bed truck. We also picked apples.

So both the minor and major seminaries I went to were good experiences in learning to see how things go and how things grow - and experience nature first hand. It gave me a grasp on growth - and a better understanding of the scriptures.

JESUS

From the gospels I sense that Jesus liked to escape from the carpenter shop and explore fields of wheat and grape vines. He spotted sheep and goats, weeds and mustard trees - the birds of the air and flowers of the fields.

Jesus learned the lessons of how things grow - if we listen to him in the gospels.

US

A message from this homily would be to make sure we see the gifts of creation surrounding us - to plant and to harvest - to get a green thumb - and dirt on our hands.

We need to learn that life is a field with wheat and weeds in it - and without both - we do damage to ourselves. A good sin - a good mistake - could be the best teacher in our life. It can also give us the gift of understanding - that we blow it at times.

We need to learn how to plant - and maybe the tree of faith will start to flower and grow a good 30 years from now.

We need to plant something - to learn something.

I’ve heard people arguing about something at night. The next day I would hear them arguing with someone else - but this time they have the opposite opinion from the day before.  Something happened in their sleep - or they replanted their thoughts - while they were sleepless.

I’ve learned there are lots of dormant flowers and fruit and plants inside everyone - and the day comes when the good stuff blossoms. Amen.