Sowing Seeds
When a parent is raising their children, there are plenty of unknowns. They can instill in their children all the things that they themselves learned throughout their lives, they can give them the tools to make the best decisions and to behave most appropriately, and they can support and love them unconditionally; however, a child is ultimately another human person with their own free will and their own ability to make decisions for themselves. When we were children, we most likely strayed from the path that our parents wanted us to follow many times. It probably hurt our parents greatly, but it was a decision that we chose for ourselves based on our own free will. As a parent, there is one virtue that is absolutely crucial in raising children: a patience based in hope. You must have hope that your children will one day come to the realization that you were well-informed and experienced to teach them what you did, but you must also be patient when your children choose to prolong the period before coming to that realization.
As Catholics, we can consider ourselves to be in the position of a parent expressing patience out of hope. As members of the Church, we have been given a well-informed and experienced collection of teachings, morality, doctrines, and writings that lay out perfectly how to live a life of truth, beauty, and goodness. Those who live precisely according to the teachings of the Church can be assured of finding a life of meaning. If we are in such a position to tell the world that this is exactly what is needed to make the world a better place, then we are in the exact position of the hypothetical parent who wants nothing more than for their children to thrive. But the world is like a stubborn child who does not believe that the Church has the knowledge, experience, or wisdom to suggest how to live one’s life. To them, the Church is outdated, “unaware” of the challenges of the modern world and the new temptations that exist today that did not exist in the past. This is precisely the mentality of an immature child reacting against their parents. The proper response of both a mature parent and for us as spiritually mature members of the Church is to encourage others to listen to what the Church has to say but to ultimately allow others to act on their own free wills. Like a parent, the Catholic who is evangelizing to the world cannot expect the immature to listen. What we can hope for, though, is that we are planting seeds that might one day sprout and grow into the realization that the truth is not only real but also accessible for those who desire to be open to it.
If you are one who is in the process of planting seeds of hope within certain souls who may not appreciate what you have to offer at this moment in their lives, you are performing a truly admirable act of virtue. It was faith that motivated you to share such things with the world, it was hope that made you accept the fact that the results of your evangelization will not be immediately known or visible, and it was love that inspired you to accept that you are sharing it for the sake of others coming to realize the truth. A parent does not show patience or hope for their stubborn children so that one day they can gloat about being right; a parent wants what is best for their children out of love for them, to will their good and nothing else. As sharers of the Gospel and as sowers of a seed that may not sprout for some time, we must approach our work of evangelization as an effort in love. Patience and hope will one day pass away, but love will remain. The gift that we hope will sprout from our desire to share the truth of the Gospel is the central Gospel message: unending and enduring love for nothing except the good of the beloved.
Today's Readings:
