Berries... and More

It’s been a good while since there has been a posting here …many things slow down in this southern heat, but not time! As the daily work of the monastery begins to include attending to the produce spilling in from the garden, life gets more ‘colorful’ (literally!) and the psalms in choir more vivid: ‘the earth has yielded it’s fruit, for God our God has blessed us.’ Right now the ‘fruit of the week’ is blueberries! These little plump morsels are being used in a myriad of recipes. One blessing of having an abundance of one kind of fruit is that it affords the opportunity to have something as thrilling as instructions in the art of pie baking. One of our eldest Sisters is a true genius in the kitchen! Being served blueberries in various forms at breakfast, lunch and supper is no hardship; there is just that other dimension that cannot be forgotten. Some hardworking persons forage through the bushes to bring in buckets of fruit (and all the other veggies as well)! Any ‘spare hands’ are eagerly welcomed out in the backyard berry-ville. Certainly it was these types of real life situations that Our Lord used to illustrate some of His most urgent teachings or to give His instructions: “Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest!” When there is no one to bring in ‘the harvest’ the inevitable happens – rotting food, spoiled vegetables and wasted labor. In a world dependent on these things, the terrible result of a lost harvest is hunger, and perhaps death. This has crucial application in the spiritual realm that is far from alien to our own lives. Without laborers and shepherds in the Lord’s harvest, the plagues of spiritual hunger, weakness and death is never far off. Thankfully we have a true, faithful and untiring shepherd in Pope Benedict XVI – ‘a humble laborer in the Lord’s vineyard’ to whose example we look as we seek to serve the Lord ‘in spirit and truth.’ Lord send out laborers for your harvest, bless those sent out in your Name & let us serve you as you see fit!

The photo is from an early blueberry survey... not a shot of the full scale harvesting! To those who made generous offers to help us pick blueberries, the 'blueberry patch' is within our cloistered yard - but we are grateful for your thoughtfulness just the same!!