Our Catholic Faith

God of harvest

On Thursday 18 October we celebrate our College Cluster Masses and Friday we celebrate the gift of the graduating class of Year 12. Our theme for the graduation is that of harvest. It is time to harvest the good crop, to reap the benefits of a Catholic education, to celebrate the accomplishments of each of the students as they complete their journeys of secondary education and prepare for the greater challenges that will confront them throughout life. Year 12 is not an end, but only a pathway to new beginnings.

Small Beginnings

"Things great have small beginnings. Every downpour is just a raindrop; every fire is just a spark; every harvest is just a seed; every journey is just a step because without that step there will be no journey; without that raindrop there can be no shower; without that seed there can be no harvest."

William Wilberforce

In the beginning there was nothing, and out of nothing you fashioned a universe so vast, so unimaginable that we can only sigh with amazement when we stare upwards on a star-lit night. And within this universe you positioned the earth and populated it, provided for it and designed for it to be a place of beauty.

Creator God: Thank you

In the beginning there was just potential; the seed within the packet, soil’s nutrients, sunshine’s warmth, rain clouds gathering. And within the tiny seed all that is our daily bread encoded, primed and ready should it be planted and allowed to grow.

Creator God: Thank you

Genesis 2: 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In the beginning there was humankind, placed within your garden, made steward, gardener and caretaker of this place of beauty, given responsibilities and the capacity to enjoy. And yet among the seeds we have sown have been weeds and crops of our own choosing, which have not shown fruit or have spread and choked the earth.

Creator God: Forgive us

Myung Lee reminds us of an old Korean proverb. "If you plant a bean, then you will harvest only beans, not grapes or strawberries." God gave us new life through Jesus Christ and planted special seeds of forgiveness and love in our hearts. What fruit will we bear in our daily lives?"

God of harvest,

gardener supreme

you place us at the centre

feed us, equip us and

having provided for us

look to a different harvest

a fruitfulness of lives

in service to you

and others.

God of harvest,

feed us

prune us

harvest us

that our lives

might bring glory to you.

Reference: http://www.faithandworship.com/harvest_thanksgiving_liturgy_prayers.htm#ixzz5U5eRS5xH

Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Vince Iannuzzi

Director of Faith and Mission