North Coast Catholic September 0912 : Page 2
from the bishop Cultivating our spiritual garden I My Dear People of God: suspect that you, like me, find it is a lot easier to come up with ideas than it is to implement and sustain the ideas generated. Good intentions, while gratifying, do not automatically achieve the desired end. For me, the basket of good intentions left unfulfilled is much larger than the basket of good intentions that reached their intended goal. This was presented by our Lord in the Parable of the Sower and the Seed. It was the Gospel used at the Mass for the closing of RAd (Religious Adventure) camp in July. I challenged the youth to take the good intentions they had formulated at camp and to tend and nurture them so that they could bear rich spiritual fruit. In the parable, our Lord points out that some seed fell on a pathway where the birds ate it; some fell on rocky soil; some fell on weed-infested soil; and some fell on rich soil. It was only that which fell on the rich soil that had been tilled, cleared of rocks and weeded that produced the desired result. Discovering in our own personal lives those things that constitute for us the hardened soil, the birds, the rocks and the weeds must be an integral part of our spiritual lives. Only if these are removed can we become the rich soil capable of producing, with the help of God’s grace, a harvest of 30-or 60-or 100-fold. The sacrament of reconciliation is best suited for this role. Anyone who has a garden knows soil is not just tilled and prepared once in a lifetime. Somehow, the soil that was well-tilled last year becomes like a road each spring. The soil cleared of rocks seems to grow new ones. In Nebraska, where I hail from, the seasonal freezing and thawing of the soil actually moves rocks previously ensconced well below the tilling range closer to the surface, requiring their removal. As children, tasked occasionally with picking rocks, we were wont to ask, “Where are these rocks coming from?” The same is true of weeds. Some weed seeds can lie dormant for years so that a field free of weeds one year might, miraculously, sprout a fresh crop of weeds in the next. In our experience, this is not only an annual event, it is weekly! Weeds are recurrent and need to be removed regularly, or they will seriously diminish the harvest. Similarly for us in our spiritual lives, it is not enough to have done an examination of conscience at Christmas or at Easter and to expect that our spiritual garden will remain free of birds and rocks and weeds throughout the entire year. It does not work like that in agriculture, and it does not work like that in our spiritual lives. A Trappist monk, Dom. Jean-Baptiste Chautard, O.C.S.O., wrote in The Soul of the Apostolate that there are three kinds of work. The first is that which is almost exclusively physical. This, he says, is the easiest. The second is the intellectual work of the scholar and those who work in the world of ideas. This work is more difficult in the interior discipline it requires. The third is the labor of the interior spiritual life. The abbott did not hesitate to declare that of the three, this kind, when it is taken seriously, is by far the most difficult. He adds: “A man who is determined to acquire an interior life must take, for his ideal, unrelenting domination of self and complete control over his environment, in order, to act in all things solely for the glory of God. To achieve this aim, he must strive, under all circumstances, to keep united with Jesus Christ and thus to keep his eye on the end he has in view, and to evaluate everything according to the standard of the Gospel.” This is a very tall order, which requires attentive diligence and reliance of God’s grace and, especially, the sacraments. Asking every good grace and bless-ing of God upon you, I am, Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus, +Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of Santa Rosa. Bishop Robert F. Vasa is the sixth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, Calif. Cultivando nuestro jardín espiritual Mis queridos fieles en Cristo: Sospecho que usted, como yo, encuentra que es mucho más fácil proponer ideas que ponerlas en práctica y sos-tener las ideas generadas. Las buenas intenciones , aunque nos complazcan, no consiguen el final deseado de manera au-tomatica. Para mí, la cesta de buenas intenciones no logra-das es mucho más grande que la cesta de las buenas intencio-nes que alcanzaron su objetivo incial. Esto fue presentado por nuestro Señor en la Parábola del Sembrador y la Semilla, Evangelio usado en la misa para el cierre del Campamento Religioso en julio. Desafié a los jovenes a tomar las buenas intenciones que ellos habían formulado en el Campamento y a nutrirlas de modo que estas puedan dar fruto espiritual . The Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa continues its commitment to provide a safe and welcoming environ-ment for all young people. We also are eager to reach out to any who have experienced past abuses through clergy, staff or volunteers. If you or someone you know has been harmed by sexual misconduct by clergy, a church employee or volunteer, please contact Julie Sparacio, victims assistance coordinator, at 707.566.3308 or jsparacio@srdiocese.org. If you have cause to suspect young people are currently at risk, contact the local police. 2 North Coast Catholic / September 2012 / www. srdiocese. org Liturgical Calendar: St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church Sept. 3 | Feast of the Nativity
Publication List
Using a screen reader? Click Here