Farmers are hard working people.  They are up early and work long hours through the heat of the day to tend to their fields.  There is not only sowing and reaping to be done but there is also land management, plowing, keeping the fields free of weeds, fertilizing the soil, maintaining fence lines and dealing with insects and animals that want their share of the crop.  A farmer will do whatever it takes to assure a good harvest.  While not working in the fields the farmer is usually in a workshop working on a tractor, cleaning equipment, repairing equipment that has been damaged by rocks hidden in the field or tuning up an engine.  The farmer usually does his own maintenance work.  There is a solid work ethic among farmers.  The farmer reminds us that one should work hard and take care of their family, that there is honor in sweat and calluses, and that a little mud on the boots and grease under the fingernails is a good sign of a good day’s work.

ven with all of the hard work that a farmer does each day, there is still one thing that is beyond his capabilities – he cannot force the crops to grow.  The farmer prepares the field and plants the seed but it is God who must bless his labor with growth.  God gives the sun and the rain and causes the plant to yield its fruit.  The process of growth is a mystery that lies hidden beneath the soil.  The transformation of the seed into a fruit bearing plant is a mystery of dying and rising that is beyond the farmer’s control.  The parables that Jesus tells his disciples today are parables of growth.  The kingdom of God involves the mystery of growth:  “it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.”(Mk 4,26f)  Growth takes time and requires patience on the part of the sower.  It cannot be forced or manipulated.  Once the growth begins, it can produce a great change:  “It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.  But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”(Mk 4,31f)  The building up of the Kingdom of God is an admixture of human labor and divine grace.  We must be faithful to the work that God has apportioned to each one of us and then we must have faith that God will accomplish his work through divine grace.

One of the questions that is addressed in the “Youcat” (Youth Catechism, a version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church) is:  “Can people be forced to believe in God?”  The answer that is given is:  “No.  No one may force others to believe, not even one’s own children, just as no one may be forced to be an unbeliever.  A person can make the decision to believe only in complete freedom.  Christians, however, are called to help other people, by word and example, to find the way to faith.”(n. 354)  This is a hard lesson for parents to learn and accept.  They plant the seeds of faith in the lives of their children, they water them in love and tears and then they expect that these seeds will bear fruit.  Like the farmer, parents often work hard to hand on the faith to their children but they cannot force the growth process.  Much of the growth in the way of faith happens deep down, under the surface and is a mystery that God alone understands fully.  It is heartbreaking and frustrating for parents when they see that their children are not going to church or living in accordance with God’s law and the teaching of the Church.  They are called to be patient and not to lose hope but to persevere in prayer and in their faith in God.  They must be faithful to their work as parents but then they must entrust to God the hidden growth of faith in their children and have faith that God’s grace will be effective in the lives of their children even though, “they know not how.”

here are no magic formulas for growth.  There is simply the trust in God’s grace to accomplish its purpose in our lives.  We must be faithful and prepare the soil and plant the seed but God will bless the work of our hands with an abundant harvest in his time and measure.  “For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned.”(Rom 12,3)  Work hard and pray believing.  “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”(1Cor 15,58)