Sharing: Time Talent Treasure
THE FRUITS OF THE HARVEST
As the summer days shorten, the nights cool and darken earlier, and seasonal changes are felt, our thoughts and actions take on different meanings. If we have children, school plans become a priority. If we are retired, maybe we begin to think about our winter plans. If we have become unemployed, getting a job seems to take on an increased urgency. Physically the world is changing around us. It is time for the harvest. If we have personally put forth the love and work, the benefits will be directly ours. But the possibility of harvest may also come to us through the labors of others.
All harvest is a gift. “And God’s love is His first gift and the one through which all others come. And God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us when Jesus promised never to leave us alone. We may be wounded or dead to this love because of sin; but the first effect of His love is forgiveness. Through prayer and the Sacraments, we can reap the rewards of forgiveness. Our harvest is His pledge or first fruits of our inheritance…. which is to love as God has loved us. We will receive a new life in Christ made possible because we have received power from the Holy Spirit. By this power of the Spirit, God‟s children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear the fruit of the Spirit…..love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. We live by the Spirit; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we walk by the Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God “Father” and to share in Christ’s grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.” *
As we become somewhat obsessed with the physicality of the changing world around us and our place in it, let us pause and remember the true harvest which we are promised if we work in the fields of “knowing, loving, and serving Him in this life in order to spend our next life with Him for all eternity.” Truly, that is the greatest harvest of all!
Stewardship Questions: Kathy Reilly 781-444-0862 Email: kreilly15@yahoo.com
* “The Holy Spirit – God‟s Gift” 733-736 Catechism of the Catholic Church
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Stewardship: A way of life
Sharing: Time Talent Treasure
THE FRUITS OF THE HARVEST
As the summer days shorten, the nights cool and darken earlier, and seasonal changes are felt, our thoughts and actions take on different meanings. If we have children, school plans become a priority. If we are retired, maybe we begin to think about our winter plans. If we have become unemployed, getting a job seems to take on an increased urgency. Physically the world is changing around us. It is time for the harvest. If we have personally put forth the love and work, the benefits will be directly ours. But the possibility of harvest may also come to us through the labors of others.
All harvest is a gift. “And God’s love is His first gift and the one through which all others come. And God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us when Jesus promised never to leave us alone. We may be wounded or dead to this love because of sin; but the first effect of His love is forgiveness. Through prayer and the Sacraments, we can reap the rewards of forgiveness. Our harvest is His pledge or first fruits of our inheritance…. which is to love as God has loved us. We will receive a new life in Christ made possible because we have received power from the Holy Spirit. By this power of the Spirit, God‟s children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear the fruit of the Spirit…..love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. We live by the Spirit; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we walk by the Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God “Father” and to share in Christ’s grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.” *
As we become somewhat obsessed with the physicality of the changing world around us and our place in it, let us pause and remember the true harvest which we are promised if we work in the fields of “knowing, loving, and serving Him in this life in order to spend our next life with Him for all eternity.” Truly, that is the greatest harvest of all!
Stewardship Questions: Kathy Reilly 781-444-0862 Email: kreilly15@yahoo.com
* “The Holy Spirit – God‟s Gift” 733-736 Catechism of the Catholic Church