Walk In The Garden Part X

“Build homes, settle down;

plant gardens and eat what they produce, take wives and have sons and daughters,

choose wives for your sons, find husbands for your daughters,

so that these can bear sons and daughters in their turn;

you must increase there and not decrease. “\

( Jeremiah 29:5 )

In this scripture we find the Lord telling Jeremiah, that its time for him to settle in and get to work.

The fact that the Israelites are in exile and life is not perfect, this is not going to be a short lived proposition. If you’re going to plant a garden and eat what it produces, then you’re going to be there longer than a few months. The the Lord says, its going to be generations into this exile.. we are talking grandchildren and great grand children which means.. that your probably going to be buried in this land. If your going to be in this for the long haul, then you might as well make the very best of this you can. Do the best you can for your family, for your community, for your brothers and sisters.

In the light of this scripture, I invite you to consider the parable of the talents ( Matthew 25:14) we all know the story. where the Master gives each of his servants talents. He goes away, returns and there is an accounting after the fact.

In this parable there is a certain parallel or extension of this scripture. Just like the Israelites, we as Christians may in the current world cultural climate feel like we are in exile. We might feel like we are in a strange land, not the land we grew up in at all ? Sure, some of the places are familiar, but the people have changed. Like the Israelites, we find that we find ourselves in the midst of people who do not believe the things that we do. Where once, everyone in our community believed the same basic things we do, now it’s something that is different, and not spoken of in the public square except either in hushed tones, in private meetings, or in exile all together.

On one hand, we need to ask how it is that we got to this point. How do we “ repair God’s house” that you can see is falling into ruin. As a Catholic of a certain age, you remember with some fondness the Baltimore Catechism. This catechism taught us the basic truths of our faith. Today, we have a couple of generations of people who do not yet know, and wander about asking the basic question “ Why am I here ? “ or “What is my purpose in life ?”. What is worse yet, is that we have children who do not have these answers yet, who are having children, who are asking the same questions, and their parents do not have the answers. This causes the children to leave their faith and seek the meaning of life elsewhere.

We have now people who are not isolated. Once children begin going to school they are subject to influences that are not of our beliefs. There are other people who attempt to tell us what it is that we should believe. Governments, schools, friends, people in fact there is an entire world on the internet where, if you go seeking answers, people are more than willing to give you theirs.

The “talent” God gave you in this exile of your faith, is the grace of love. Like an athlete, or an artist, your first attempts at doing something is not going to be perfect. So it is with your own evangelization. You will not have answers, or you will not have good answers. Like an athlete you must learn about your faith, and educate yourself. You need to read. ALOT ! I have books on my shelf that I have not gotten to yet. I do however have plans to get to them.

I know that time is short in our lives. We are very busy.. Over committed, and over tired. We have to make the time. Read the Bible. Read the Catechism. LEARN your faith. Learn what the church teaches. Don’t just read ANY books. Read the best books. I don’t always have time in my day to read as I would like. I make time when I am driving to and from work each day to listen to podcasts or recording of some type about our faith, about scripture, and about our life in Christ.

We simply can not give what we do not have. If we do not have answers about our faith then we are obligated to obtain those answers. If we have questions, then someone else will have those same questions, and we will need to have answers. Those answers need to be clear, concise, and reasonable.

You know the typical sorts of questions that we are Christians are asked. Ask yourself those questions, and see what answers you have. Ask your children, or some close friends , ask the people you go to church with. If you do not know.. then tel l them so, but also tell them you will get an answer and get back to them with an answer. Then go read, educate yourself, talk to a priest, deacon , religious etc.

Your talent is showing God, to others through your life. The interest that you gain from Love, is more love, and souls for the Kingdom. If you do not invest your faith, if you do not share the love of God with others, then you will have nothing in the end, when the Master returns.

The seed that you plant is your garden in faith is Love. The extension of love is service. By your example you are witness to your faith, that others will see God , and bear fruit, and you will by these actions find “wives for your sons,” and “husbands for your daughters” and they will in turn, bare “sons and daughters” of their own, the planting of your seeds and the workings of the Holy Spirit.

May God give you the gift of His peace !