Before the days of big-box home improvement superstores and convenient garden centers, farmers had to make extra efforts to ensure the fertility of their grounds and farmlands and to ensure the most productive returns of their hard work. Even then, sweat and sacrifices do not always promise a sure return of crop yields because of the unpredictable weather and ground conditions. There were a lot of factors involved, and they had to learn how to be OK with many unknown factors, doing the best that they could but also preparing for what they could not plan for.
It gets very easy for us to go to our typical supercenters to pick up plants that have been properly prepared and simply plant them in our own home gardens. If we do not get the growth we want, we purchase fertilizer bags or formulated growth substances to help with the process. If we do not get what we want, or if the plants die in a short time, we simply take our receipts and get a refund or exchange them for something that better suits our needs. Our current lifestyle is very different from Jesus‘ own time and what He meant when He tried to convey the message of seeds being planted in limited, ancient-setting, harsh, and unfavorable conditions. His agricultural-based parables invited a lot more trust and effort than our current, instantaneous, and gratifying conveniences.
Anyone who has been or understands the settings of the Holy Land will know that it is not the most fertile place on earth. The weather and ground conditions are mostly unfavorable and harsh. Even now, with all the modern technologies and agricultural advances, people in those areas are still struggling to farm and keep things alive. Therefore, when we read parables and see images of seeds and works in the Sacred Scriptures, we should not think of green, fertile, favorable, or optimal conditions but the tenacity, resiliency, trust, and hard work that is needed for being in such an environment. Without a doubt, there is an unspoken understanding of perseverance, willingness, and desire to thrive, even when everything is trying and hard to accept at times.
In a day and age when many of us have been affected by many cultural and social influences of hopelessness, objectification, and manipulation by those who are vocal, influential, or able to garner attention or power to treat other people according to their appeal factors, productivity, or popularity, we need to remind ourselves that Christianity has never really been popular and accepted by the general mass. Actual Christian teachings and the truth that are required of us are oftentimes rejected, ignored, judged, and dismissed by the popular and influential population because they have been deemed and labeled as outdated, enslaving, and contradictory to true human freedom. We are not popular because the real truth is unpopular! The life of discipleship requires us to make decisions and embrace sacrifices for the sake of the greater, ultimate, and eternal good that comes from God and not just our personal likings, agendas, or opinions.
Contrary to what we think, like, and want, we do not always get what we wish for! Think about it, if we all get what we like or wish for, this world would be in chaos and anarchy because not all of our desires are good and in alignment with the greater and ultimate good that comes from God. We must recognize that we often have our own egocentric blindspots that make us think about ourselves first. I know this is hard to accept and contradictory to our thinking, but we have to trust and see that God desires our ultimate good, not just what we think is beneficial for us now or in the short time to come. Even if we do believe with good intentions, our desires are not always the best for the long, everlasting, and especially eternal good; therefore, we have to trust in the One who knows and loves us more than we do ourselves.
Furthermore, it really requires a lot of dying to ourselves to make clear, conscientious, humble, and sacrificial choices in accordance with His commandments and to seek true holiness. It is a constant and daily battle for many of us — at least for me! I find it very challenging to let go of wants and desires to trust in God‘s providential and loving care according to His own timing and not mine, especially when life gets hard and challenging, when people hurt me, or when I do not get what I want. Yet, looking back on my life, I see that I always ended up where I needed to be instead of where I wanted to be. Even in the midst of all the trials and hardships, pains and sufferings, I somehow found the necessary strength to bear them all — kicking and screaming at times, too. That got to be His work of grace, or I would not be where I am today!
I hope you can take the time to find vestiges and signs of His loving care in your lives, too. I know our journeys have not always been easy, and we have perhaps lost a lot along the way, but I believe we have gained, matured, and become stronger in the process as well. Indeed, what seems so simple and taken for granted many times are hard journeys of many sacrifices. Without a doubt, where we are today took a lot of beatings, hardships, and trials, but we have matured a lot, too, because we have learned to be tenacious, persevere, endure, and thrive as best as we can to make life worth living and worthwhile.
When we see a plant growing, we take it for granted that it is just natural and ordinary. However, that plant has to work a lot to draw the needed nutrients from the ground, receive energy through photosynthesis, and push through its own physical barriers to grow. Hence, the same thing happens to us humanly speaking on the physical, psychological, and spiritual levels if we want to mature, grow, and deepen our life of faith, holiness, and discipleship according to the truth. We cannot give up when things get hard or when life throws us curveballs and wrenches, when it seems easy to give up or give in to the imposed pressures, or when we do not get what we think we deserve… we keep pushing and growing, thriving and maturing where we are and where we have been planted by God.
It is so easy to walk away and give up at times! Trust me, I know those temptations and how they might feel. Nonetheless, I am still here — a Catholic and priest — because I cannot walk away from the One who loves me. Deep within my heart, I know He is real and loves me dearly. Even though there were days when I questioned His timing and providential permission to allow certain things to happen, I never doubted His goodness and love for me. God has always been faithful. He has never — in my whole life — abandoned me! He was always there, loving me and sending small signs of love when I could not love Him or myself at times. Therefore, I choose to continue to live and grow in places where He has put me, even though I have cried, kicked, and screamed at Him. I am who I am and where I am today because He loves me, and I am just trying my best to love Him back in return, even though I am, at times, hurt by life and others who are in my life.
I do not have a perfect answer to why you should choose to stay and will do what is right, just, and according to the truth. I have no great answer to why you should be a Catholic and continue to choose to believe when it seems easier to walk away, abandon faith, give up hope, or simply give in to what is easier, popular, or wanted by others who are around us. I have chosen to stay Catholic, decide to forgive, and practice mercy, not as signs of weakness and cowardice, but as genuine acts of trust in Him who justifies, sees, and knows my true intentions of the heart. It is not easy, but my heart will not allow me to walk away from Him who loves me, and I hope you can come to that personal, intimate, and heartfelt knowledge as well. No matter what is going on in your lives right now, what might come down the pipeline… Do not give up and give in, but choose to grow and flourish where He has planted us. The conditions and environments might not be the best, optimal, and fertile as we would have liked, but He will give us sufficient grace. Hence, it is up to us to receive His grace, push ourselves, and thrive against all circumstances to grow and flourish where we have been planted.
May the love of God be with you, strengthen you, and give you the necessary grace to embrace all things and love Him more every day.
I Thirst (John 19:28) with Father Khoi 