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Some things in life just take time.
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And I don't know about you, but I'm not always particularly good at that part.
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I like progress I can see.
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I like knowing that what I'm doing is actually making a difference.
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But so much of our life with God happens more quietly than that.
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We pray, we listen, we keep going.
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And sometimes we have to trust that God is at work long before we see the results.
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So wherever you are today, let's spend these next few minutes simply paying attention to Him.
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Let us pray.
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
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Amen.
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O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.
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Psalm 27.
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New Horizons.
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You, O God, give me life and love, offering space and inner peace.
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My spirit soars from this source.
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I smile, I sing, I am moved to praise.
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When my confidence falters, hear me and help me.
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Challenge my fear when quickening and pulsing, I feel only my own heart beating.
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Restore a right rhythm within me.
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Inspire me for each challenge, knowing that you are part of the adventure.
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Don't let me imagine the hurdles ahead, but help me look for the opportunities.
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Trusting and believing, centering my soul in you.
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I wait with anticipation to embrace new horizons.
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Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.
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Amen.
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Reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Galatians, chapter six, verse nine.
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Let us not grow weary of doing good.
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For in due season we will reap if we do not give up the word of the Lord.
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Thanks be to God.
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The last few years I've tried my hand at urban gardening.
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I've done it with lots of degrees of varying success.
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When I say success, I mean I've gone from a yield of one to two to four to five cherry tomatoes.
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This fails in comparison to the size and success of the gardens of my aunts and father-in-law.
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But as I've continued each summer, I've learned something every
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year as I've worked to cultivate my garden.
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Whether it be not putting too many plants in a single pot, or making sure to give them enough water each day, or protecting them from the storms on my windy patio.
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I have tried to learn from these moments and to give my plants the best chance to thrive.
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So often throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus referring to growing things or tending to a field.
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What's amazing is in over 2,000 years after Jesus told these parables, a lot of the references still resonate today.
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In today's reading as well, in the New Testament from St.
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Paul, he reminds us not to grow tired as we wait for our harvest.
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I will be the first to say it's very hard to wait for the harvest.
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It requires being attentive every day.
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And above all, waiting can be described in a single word.
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Consistency.
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All these little things add up to help keep my plants healthy as they mature and bear fruit.
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But when I lack that consistency, the plants tend to bear less fruit and often struggle to go grow.
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Just like my first year with that single cherry tomato.
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Our faith, my friends, is a very similar exercise in consistency.
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Do we consistently make Jesus the Lord of our lives?
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Do we consistently find ways to see Jesus in the face of others?
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Do we consistently entrust ourselves to him that we might live out our vocations as we are called to do?
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For myself, this consistency is often a struggle, as life of endless busyness always seems to get in the way.
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However, I would encourage you all today, and even more importantly, trying to encourage myself to strive for the same consistency as we work to find our ways to Christ.
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Finding him in the ordinary, in the daily routine, in our relationships, so that we might continue to consistently grow closer to him and continue to bear that fruit, that we might even have a sixth, a seventh, or an eighth cherry tomato.
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With confidence we pray.
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Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
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Amen.
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Let us pray.
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Faithful God, give us grace for the days when we grow tired.
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Help us to keep loving when it would be easier to turn away, and to remain faithful when we cannot yet see where you are leading us.
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When we become impatient with ourselves, teach us to trust the quiet work you are doing within us.
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May our lives, little by little, become a reflection of your goodness.
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We ask this through Christ our Lord.
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Amen.
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To you do I belong, O God.
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Into your hands I surrender my life.
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Pour out your Spirit upon me, that I may love you perfectly and serve you faithfully until my soul rests in you.
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I have to admit, I love that Justin measures gardening success one cherry tomato at a time.
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That gives me great comfort for my own spiritual life.
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So today, instead of worrying about the whole harvest, we can simply be grateful for the next cherry tomato.
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And may God bless us in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
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Amen.
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Look for Christ in the small things until we pray again tomorrow.