Thanks to one of our green fingered parishioners who has not only sent in these wonderful photographs of their allotment harvest, but also a reflection for us all at this time. On Sunday children from the Cathedral School will be sharing poems about Harvest and there will be a collection for CAFOD which is the official overseas development and relief agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
A rich harvest
As Christians, this is a time for us to give thanks to God for the abundance of food we have and to appreciate the food that we have each day. In our own society, we have much more than we need and it can help to make some small sacrifice to remind us that not all people are able to take food for granted.
We can also use this period to reflect on our lives as Christians. Imagery of the land is often seen in Scripture; Jesus uses images of seeds and crops in parables. We “reap what we sow”. And so, at harvest time, we can ask ourselves how well we prepared our ground, whether the seeds we have sown have borne fruit, how we have grown ourselves and how we have nurtured, nourished and protected faith and the Church.
A rich harvest
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Maize growing on allotment
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This time of year is harvest time in many parts of the globe. It is now that a lot of crops are ready, like these sweetcorn (maize) plants, which form a staple diet for many peoples of the world. The grower learns whether his hard work has paid off; he finds out whether the time and effort spent preparing the soil, protecting the young crops, feeding, nurturing, watering and sheltering has had the desired result. In our own culture, we are not as tied to the land as we used to be and it may therefore be hard to identify with those for whom the harvest is still a matter of life and death. In many parts of the world, families are reliant on that which they can grow and a poor harvest means they will go hungry. Although in our own culture we feel this relationship with the land less keenly, it is still important for us to recognise that it is a vital one for our nourishment and sustenance.
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Corn on the Cob ready for cooking!
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We can also use this period to reflect on our lives as Christians. Imagery of the land is often seen in Scripture; Jesus uses images of seeds and crops in parables. We “reap what we sow”. And so, at harvest time, we can ask ourselves how well we prepared our ground, whether the seeds we have sown have borne fruit, how we have grown ourselves and how we have nurtured, nourished and protected faith and the Church.
So celebrate the harvest, give thanks and acknowledge the joy of what you have achieved. Of course, sometimes crops fail but reflect and prepare for next time because for every winter there follows a spring.