by Fr. Brian Wirth,
Director of Rural Life
As I was preparing for Mass this past Labor Day, I came across a phrase that struck me. In a poem titled “On Work,” by the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran, he wrote: “Work is love made visible.” Not only was this a great reflection on Labor Day, but even more, these words offer us all a great meditation in our God-given vocations daily.
In view of the dignity and physical/spiritual goodness of human labor, the richness of our Catholic faith (highlighted by the Gospel and Christ’s Paschal Mystery), and the forthcoming fall harvest, this phrase beautifully expresses the goodness of our God and the perfect work of charity exercised on behalf of mankind and all creation.
Marvelously, going all the way back to the beginning in Genesis, in the second Creation account, all of humanity (and farmers especially) heed the very command that was given to Adam, the first man and farmer by God as our Father and Creator, “to cultivate and care for the land.” (Gen. 2:15).
Such command is most wisely given by God to Adam, to farmers, and to each one of us because certainly, in view of our God who is Love, all of creation, in all of its many life forms, has been created by God, in His image and likeness, as good (Gen. 1:24-29). Relatedly, as protectors of God’s Divine handiwork, we must never tire in being good stewards of creation nor protecting the most precious gift of creation: human life from conception to natural death.
In his recent address on the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Leo XIV stated: “Care for creation is a true vocation for every human being. Our commitment must be carried out within creation itself, never forgetting that we are creatures among creatures, not the Creator.”
As such, care for creation, the land/environment, and respecting all life is essential. From the very beginning, in both creation accounts, we witness firsthand that God’s Divine work is indeed love made visible by way of his Son, Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word (Gen. 1; Jn. 1) who for our sake became Love Incarnate (Jn. 1:14).
For farmers, the fall harvest is clearly one of the most powerful acts of love made visible, the culmination of their countless labors by the sweat of their brow. Further, the fall harvest is a work of charitable solidarity and participation in God’s Divine Plan and handiwork.
Properly, the fall harvest is a grace-filled work directed toward the greatest good, the pinnacle of all creation: the human person, enabling the human race to be nourished in body and spirit through the work of human hands and providentially through God’s Divine hands.
Truly, to be able to witness firsthand this “work as love made visible” in view of the fall harvest all across the Diocese and across Nebraska and the Midwest is a most grace-filled blessing. From farming families and small town communities uniting together to safely and successfully reap the fruits of God’s creation, to watching combines majestically harvest the amber waves of grain during a fall Nebraska sunset, to the semis, tractors, grain carts, and fuel trucks all working in mechanical harmony to haul grain safely and securely to its final destination, to the geometric symmetry of setting augurs and grain hoppers in precision in relation to the grain bin, etc. All of these tasks and more proclaim the simple yet wondrous goodness of creation, the beauty of the rural landscape, and the objective/subjective dimensions of the goodness of human labor. In this lens, farming isn’t merely a job. It is a daily work of creation in view of the Divine Creation and Almighty Creator.
Pope Leo XIV has named Sept. 1 to Oct. 4 as the Season of Creation, inviting us all to pray for a renewed respect and love of God’s creation. In union with Pope Francis, our Holy Father reiterates: “Now is the time to follow words with deeds. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience” (Laudato Si, 217).
As disciples of Christ, we are called daily to grow within the wellspring of prayer and the fertileness of relationship and intimacy in order to cultivate by the grace the virtues of the Kingdom of God as mustard seeds (Mt. 13:31-32), thus reaping the fruits of the Eternal Harvest sourced in the most precious Fruit of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Therefore, as the fall harvest officially gets underway, let us pray for our farmers and families during this labor-intensive season, that they may be strong in body and spirit to reap the fruits of the harvest for our sake, so that, being fed in body and spirit, such nourishment may provide us all the energy to worship Christ across our Diocese and most especially, the Eucharistic Altar, the Supreme Work of Love made Visible.
Gracefully receiving Christ as the Bread of Life, may it provide us all the physical and spiritual nourishment in this life for the sake of everlasting life and the Eternal Banquet in Heaven awaiting us for all eternity.
