Welcome to the latest edition of the weekly Say Yes to Holiness newsletter—designed to help inspire, encourage and accompany you on the path towards holiness.
Yesterday was the feast day of one of the most beloved saints in the Catholic Church—Saint Francis of Assisi. I have had the privilege of knowing Saint Francis fairly well during my faith journey, especially since my late husband was a Secular Franciscan. Because of this, we tried to be as attentive as possible to living out the Franciscan charism of simplicity, trust, surrender, accompaniment of the poor, and care for creation in our daily lives.
In the Gospel yesterday, Jesus tells the parable of a landowner who carefully prepared a vineyard and entrusted it to tenants. Then, when the time arrives for the landowner to collect the fruit of his vineyard, the tenants refuse to hand it over because they believe they deserve the harvest themselves.
How is that attitude possible? Well, I think that until Saint Francis entered my life, I probably was a bit like the tenants were. I felt a bit entitled to the fruits that “my labor” has brought about in my life—even though it was God that entrusted me with my life and the vineyard that accompanied it. However, through Saint Francis, I have grown in awareness of my attitude, and through practice of simplicity and trust and surrender, I now understand more deeply the reality that everything we possess--our time, talents, relationships, resources, opportunities, and even the very breath in our lungs, is ultimately a gift given to us by God, just like the landowner entrusted the vineyard to the tenants.
So, the question that emerges from all this is—are our lives producing the fruit God desires of us?
Therefore, this week’s Food for the Head, Heart, Hands and Feet will turn to Saint Francis of Assisi to help inspire, encourage and accompany us in becoming faithful tenants who produce abundant fruit for the Kingdom as we continue on our journey towards holiness…
Food for the Head
"By the anxieties and worries of this life Satan tries to dull man's heart and make a dwelling for himself there.” —Saint Francis of Assisi
There are many things that keep our lives from producing fruit, and Saint Francis points out that one of the most insidious is anxiety and worry. For whenever we become overly concerned about what might happen tomorrow, or how someone else is doing compared to us, or whether we will have enough, or how we could possibly manage whatever lays before us, our hearts become closed and our minds become dull.
It causes us to stop noticing God’s providence and recognizing His gifts. We end up ceasing to listen for His voice. And in the end, we can begin acting like the tenants in the Gospel did—acting as if the vineyard depends entirely upon us. Even though this isn’t the case because the vineyard belongs to God—just like our lives do.
In fact, everything we possess has been given to us by God, so our job is not to control the vineyard, but to work in it and produce good fruit. So, if we ever find anxiety and worry beginning to overwhelm us, remember whose vineyard it is, and surrender the harvest to Him.
This week, resolve to surrender your anxieties and worries to God and trust Him with the vineyard of your life so you may produce a good harvest.
Food for the Heart
"Lord, help me to live this day, quietly, easily. To lean upon Thy great strength, trustfully, restfully. To wait for the unfolding of Thy will, patiently, serenely. To meet others, peacefully, joyously. To face tomorrow, confidently, courageously.” —Saint Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis gives us a marvelous description of what life can be when we we are mindful that God owns the vineyard. When we do, we can live our days quietly, trustfully, patiently, serenely, peacefully, joyously, confidently and courageously. Despite all of those things, Saint Francis does not mention that our lives will be without difficulty. Instead, Saint Francis describes for us what can happen within our hearts if we stop relying upon ourselves and, instead, begin leaning upon God’s strength.
It is unfortunate that the tenants in the Gospel refused to trust the landowner and to be open to receiving the gifts which he has entrusted to them, and instead, they grasped at the gifts and tried to make them their own.
How often do we do the same? I know I do when I try to stay in control because I am afraid of what might happen if I surrender. How about you?
But Saint Francis offers us another way. He suggests that we should lean upon God’s strength and wait for His will to unfold as we meet whatever comes with peace and joy.
And then we can face tomorrow with confidence and courage.
This week, resolve to lean upon God’s strength and patiently wait for the unfolding of His will.
Food for the Hands
“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.” —Saint Francis of Assisi
In the Gospel, Jesus concludes his parable of the vineyard with a sobering statement about the fact that God will give the Kingdom to a people who produce its fruit.
Because the focus of the Lord is upon a people who actually produce.
For the Kingdom doesn’t go to those who just talk about producing, or who think about producing, or who plan to produce someday. But for those who actually produce.
Saint Francis understood this reality that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel, and knew that the best way for our faith ro become visible is through our deeds.
Every act of patience, and every moment of generosity, and every person we forgive, and every sacrifice we make, and every lonely person we notice, and every hungry person we feed, and every word of encouragement we offer, and every time we choose love when something else would be easier.
These are the deeds that produce the fruit of the vineyard.
Now, for someone who may never read Sacred Scripture, or ever enter a church can still encounter Christ—by seeing the produce of the vineyard that is shown in our deeds. This is why Saint Francis tells us that our life might be the only sermon they ever hear.
So, our task is to not only produce fruit, but to make sure that the sermon we speak through them is a good one.
This week, resolve to perform one intentional deed each day that allows someone else to encounter Christ through you.
Food for the Feet
"Do few things, but do them well, simple joys are holy.” —Saint Francis of Assisi
Most often, we think that to produce abundant fruit means that we have to do more. We need to do more prayer, and more service, and more activities, and more commitments, and more projects.
But doing more is not the way to produce more fruit because the end result will usually leave us exhausted, distracted, burned out, and unable to do anything particularly well.
But Saint Francis points us toward simplicity. He tells us to do few things and to do them well. And in the process we find that simple joys are holy.
To determine what few simple things we should do requires discernment.
First, we must determine what portion of God’s vineyard has actually been entrusted to us. Not the portion entrusted to your neighbor, or your pastor, or someone you follow on social media, or even your spouse. Rather, what has been entrusted to you.
Perhaps pursuing holiness this week doesn’t mean that you have to add anything else to your life. Perhaps it means that you need to simplify your life so you can produce fruit in the vineyard God has entrusted to you.
This week, resolve to simplify something in your life so you can better attend to what God has actually entrusted to you.
One of my favorite ways to quiet my heart and simplify my attention is by praying the Rosary. Allow Mary to help you keep your eyes fixed upon her Son and discern what He is asking of you today. A favorite rosary podcast of mine is the Daily Rosary podcast by the School of Faith.
Exhortation
“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received—only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.” —Saint Francis of Assisi
Eventually, each of us does have to leave the vineyard.
When we do leave the earth though, we won’t be taking any of the things that we spent our lives accumulating with us. Not our possessions, or our accomplishments, or our titles, or our bank accounts. Not even our part of the vineyard.
Why? Because none of it ever belonged to us in the first place.
But what will remain is whatever fruit we have produced.
All the love we have given. Any people we have served. All the sacrifices we made and the courage we have shown. What will remain are all the ways in which we allowed God to work through us.
This is why Jesus’ parable should give us pause. We need to examine our lives and determine if we are producing fruit in the vineyard God has entrusted to me, or am I anxiously trying to control it? Am I trusting the Landowner? Am I patiently allowing God’s will to unfold? Are my deeds proclaiming Christ to others? And am I faithfully tending what God has actually given me rather than constantly seeking more?
But most importantly, am I producing fruit?
Saint Francis spent his life answering that question. Eventually he possessed nothing the world considered valuable, but he left this earth with a heart overflowing with the fruits of service, love, sacrifice and courage.
We are called to do the same.
All we have to do is remember that the vineyard belongs to God, surrender our anxiety and worry, lean upon His strength and wait patiently for His will to unfold as we preach the Gospel through our deeds and simplify our lives enough to see the holy joys already before us.
All so that whenever the Landowner comes looking for fruit from His vineyard, we will have something beautiful to return to Him.
Therefore, may each of us do WHATEVER IT TAKES this week to produce abundant fruit in the vineyard the Lord has entrusted to us, so that together we can tell the Master of Death, “NOT TODAY!”
All the best,
Christina
PS—If you haven’t already, go check out my latest book, Solving the Parish Puzzle: One Person, One Disciple, One Leader at a Time. It is available for purchase on Amazon.
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Latest Posts on the Women of the New Evangelization (WINE) blog:
Two Things I Ask of You (Sept 23)
Mercy, Peace and Exultation (April 12)
Harden Not Our Hearts (Mar 9)
Guest appearance on the Equipcast Podcast:
"When God Asks, How Do You Answer?: The Power of 'Yes' with Christina Semmens
Articles on the Catholic365.com Platform:
Recognizing the Path to Life
We Are All Eucharistic Missionaires!
Latest episode of the Say Yes to Holiness podcast...
Episode #266
“9/11, Fulton Sheen, Faith, Freedom and Liberty”
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Episode #265
“America’s Saint-Venerable Fulton Sheen”—1:1 Conversation with Dr. Peter Howard, President, Fulton Sheen Institute
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Update from The Catholic Leadership Puzzle
Here is the latest podcast on The Catholic Leadership Puzzle for your listening pleasure:
Pope Leo XIV and Pastoral Insights
In this episode I reflect upon the ideas that Pope Leo XIV shared with the Diocese of Rome, and how they are similar to the ideas I wrote about in Solving the Parish Puzzle. Holy Spirit is at work in the Church for sure!
If you have yet to pick up a copy of Solving the Parish Puzzle: One Person, One Disciple, One Leader at a Time, I encourage you to do so, especially in light of all the wonderful reviews it has received. And if you do already have a book, please consider posting a review on Amazon—every review matters!
And if you are looking for more SPP book resources and content, you can find it on Substack at The Catholic Leadership Puzzle.