Another Field of Dreams

Last Sunday we wrote about one Field of Dreams and this Sunday our school community participated in an event on another field of dreams. This dream is about eliminating hunger! Georgetown Visitation teamed up with Gonzaga College High School for our tenth annual "Gleaning of the Fields" service project. The day included Mass under the gleaning tent, work, work, work, lunch and more work. The event was organized through the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network and took place at the Gleaning Warehouse in Cheltenham, MD. In years past students, parents and faculty have gleaned (and sorted) countless of pounds of sweet potatoes, peaches, cucumbers, apples, greens, etc. Above, Sister Leonie Therese is busy harvesting some of this year's vegetables. All gleaned foods are given to local food agencies which to feed the hungry of our area.

In our urban culture, metaphors about planting and harvesting -- in the Gospels and other writings -- can be lost on those of us who do not work with our hands as our ancestors might have. St. Francis de Sales encourages us to leave the harvest to the Lord after we have made our best efforts to pursue virtue in our lives. The "work" is ours to do and the harvest is His to produce:

"God has ordained that we should employ our whole endeavors to obtain holy virtues, let us then forget nothing which might help our good success in this pious enterprise. But after we have planted and watered, let us then know for certain that it is God who must give increase to the trees of our good inclinations and habits, and therefore from his Divine Providence we are to expect the fruits of our desires and labors, and if we find the progress and advancement of our hearts in devotion not such as we would desire, let us not be troubled, let us live in peace, let tranquillity always reign in our hearts. It belongs to us diligently to cultivate our heart, and therefore we must faithfully attend to it, but as for the plenty of the crop or harvest, let us leave the care to our Lord and Master."

St. Francis de Sales