by Fr. Brian Wirth,
Director of Rural Life
As I write this column during this blustery March blizzard, my mind is eagerly jumping ahead toward spring and the start of the planting season and pre-emerge weed management. Although planting season is still some time off, it will be here before we know it.
Similarly, as we continue to progress through yet another Lenten season in the desert, while it may seem far away, the fruit-filled Easter season will arrive sooner rather than later. It is best, therefore, that we patiently stay the course and, in virtuous living, prepare in mind, body, and spirit. Whether we realize it or not, the planting season offers us insights that aid our Lenten journey.
Just as it is the farmer’s primary task of sowing seed securely into the fertile depths of the field, so too in Lent, brothers and sisters, we have the primary task of spiritually sowing with Christ the Sower the most precious seed of the kerygma, striving to embed it securely within the rich and virtuous soil bed of our hearts.
What is the kerygma? Properly, kerygma is the Greek word for “proclamation.” The kerygma refers to the most basic Gospel message:
In Creation we have been Created.
By Original Sin we have been Captured.
Through the Incarnation we have been Rescued.
In Christ’s Victory we are called to Respond.
“Basic” is not “ordinary.” When speaking of the Gospel, St. Paul tells us that it is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
Truly, the kerygma is the eternal proclamation of all that God has done for man in His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Like a popcorn kernel that pops from the intensity of heat and hot oil, the kerygma is the seed that explodes with dynamite force with the intensity of Christ’s Love and the powerful fire and oil of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, the kerygma is no ordinary seed. Rather, it is the seed which leads to Eternal Life via the Resurrection. Therefore, where we plant the kerygma in our lives is so vitally important. Moreover, after planting the kerygma, how we manage the weeds and soil of our body and soul corresponds to how much fruit we will reap in the future harvest at the end of Lent and the end of our lives. (Mt. 13)
This is especially important to remember during Lent. Very easily, our penitential works can become either a pride-based spiritual Olympics, or an indifferent giving things up for the sake of giving them up, as opposed to working with Christ and the Holy Spirit and humbly asking them the areas of our lives that we need to prioritize in order to cultivate and fertilize for the sake of preserving the kerygma for the greatest potential yield. In pre-emerge weed management, one important factor to remember is “modes of action.” Modes of action are the ways in which a herbicide affects a weed at the tissue (root system, stem, leaves, flowers) and cellular (membranes, plasma, nucleus, etc.) levels.
Through modes of action, herbicides help control weeds, affecting their normal plant growth and overall development. Knowing and understanding a herbicide’s mode of action is critical, so farmers can choose the proper herbicide for crops, thus cultivating abundant fields through safe and effective weed management programs.
Similarly, in Lent and in the Christian life, the three primary forms of penance are prayer, fasting and almsgiving (CCC 1434). Spiritually, these are the primary modes of action God has graced us with, in order to daily weed out the temptations and vices within the fertile ground of our lives to preserve the seed of the kerygma.
Thus, we must always stay vigilant. Further, over-reliance on a single herbicide or mode of action places heavy selection pressure on a weed population, eventually leading to more resistant weeds spreading and becoming dominant in the field, thus resulting in herbicides that are ineffective and limit the fruits to be reaped at the end of our lives.
So in our spiritual lives, if we only focus on one of the three primary forms of penitential works to combat sin and vice in our lives, and if we do not focus on the more pressing vices that should be utilized by the other spiritual modes of action, then these vices will spread quickly, become dominant, and result in more vices in our hearts that will be extremely difficult to remove in the future.
We cannot fast and give alms without prayer, and vice versa. As disciples, we must strive to exercise these penitential works so as to labor in union with Christ in His Passion and Death. In dying to self and weakening our sins and habits of vice, we will eradicate every weed through the Cross, and by the Resurrection reap a bountiful harvest in a weedless field of virtue and piety.
Above all, we must humbly seek Christ the Sower, but more, the Victor over all sin, death, and Satan. With Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, all things are possible. May the angels reap in us a bountiful harvest this Lent, and may we all, through the seed of the kerygma, always proclaim the goodness of our Heavenly Father.
