So Beautiful They Are Blushing

September 22, 2017

Today is the first day of Autumn.  I think autumn is my favoite time of year.  Not that it really means anything, but here is how I rank the seasons in order of most favorite to least:  Autumn, Spring Winter, Summer.  Ask me again on a sub-zero winter day and you may get a different answer, but fall will still be first.

Aside from the cooling termperatures, I love the fall because it is a time of things coming to fruition--completion, if you will. The flowering of spring, the greening and growing of summer have brought us to this season of glory.  It is a two-fold glory of beauty and harvest. I am reminded that our work has a purpose, and our lives have dignity.  

There is a Religious Order in the Catholic Church known as the Benedictines.  It is "ora et labora".  

That means "pray and work."  It is part of their daily life.  Some people think that the religious Brothers and Sisters do nothing but pray.  That is quite a misunderstanding!  The Catholic life for religious and laity was never meant to be a cushy little existence.  There is work to do--feeding, healing, cleaning, caring--in addition to the praying, preaching and saving.  That is why we Catholics have both Corporal Works of Mercy and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

The Corporal Works are the kinds acts by which we help our neighbors with their material and physical needs.  

feed the hungry

shelter the homeless

clothe the naked

visit the sick and imprisoned

bury the dead

give alms to the poor

The Spiritual Works of Mercy are acts of compassion, as listed below, by which we help our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs. 

instruct

advise

console

comfort

forgive

bear wrongs patiently

These "works" all redound to that glorious moment of fruition, that point of completion, when the two-fold glory of beauty and harvest reflected in Autumn, is manifest in us!  Together we can bear the heat of summer and withstand the cold of winter.  Pray and Work.  The dreams of spring are realized in the harvest of fall.  The Good God uses us to show His Beauty and Dignity.  In Christ Jesus, we reflect nothing less than the hope of Salvation and the promise of the Kingdom of God.

I LOVE AUTUMN!

fm