By Vivian Day
We’re in the season of preparing our gardens for bountiful yields. It’s a great time of the year to take a good look at our spiritual garden too.
May, the Month of Mary, commences with the Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker, patron of the universal Church. Saint Joseph, intimately united with Mary and Jesus, serves as a model of humility and wisdom. Together, they inspire us in all aspects of life. As we crown our Blessed Mother with wreaths of flowers, we honor her as Queen of Heaven and our lives. Mary, our spiritual mother, exemplifies purity and obedience to God, guiding us in prayer and leading us closer to Our Lord through the Rosary.
We also celebrate the lives of some of the Apostles – men who literally walked alongside Jesus and who were the first to receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
For some, leaning on and learning from the saints is familiar territory. But for others, it’s new and perhaps a bit confusing. In our Becoming Catholic process, each of us adopts a Saint of the Year and a Word for the Year, using generators created by Jennifer Fulwiler. We spend the next few months delving into the life of our saint and reflecting on our chosen word, culminating in sharing what we’ve learned about both ourselves and our saint.
As we tend our garden, planting seeds for a bountiful harvest, let’s remember the great saints whose lives inspire us with rich goodness and truth. May their example help us prepare fertile soil for growth.