Celebrating the Success of the Harvest

The harvest season is a time of celebration, and for good reason—harvesting is hard work!

Recently, Sr. Marcia Ziska invited Sr. Rita Claire Judge and me to help her pick grapes at a local vineyard; she was hoping we could each harvest two 5-gallon buckets, and I thought to myself, “That shouldn’t take too long.” How-ever, these grapes were small-er than the table grapes I had in mind; in addition, they were often out of reach and had twisty stems, making them difficult to separate from the vine. Two and a half sweaty hours later, we reached our goal, and I will never again take grape jelly for granted.

Although we need to remember that the gifts of the harvest come from God’s hands, that does not mean we should discount our own work in bringing the fruit to the table. As William Barry, SJ, says in his book Praying the Truth, “There is no reason to hold back on telling God about our joys, our excitement, our successes in life…by telling Jesus about their joy [after coming back from mission], the disciples gave Jesus a chance to rejoice with them and to teach them something about his relationship with his Father….”

September 22, is the first day of autumn. Here at the Mount we will welcome the season with an evening prayer service to reflect on the summer now past, give thanks for gifts of our gardens and fields, acknowledge our need for light in days of increasing darkness, and contemplate the seeds we need to plant now for a fruitful spring. Even if the work you do has a long harvest season, such as parenting or teaching, I hope you will take time to acknowledge the value of your labor and enjoy the blessings of the autumn season that—ready or not—is now upon us.