Fourth Sunday of Lent: Taste and See

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Reflecting on the Readings
 
Cycle A
First Reading: 1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Psalm 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Second Reading: Eph 5:8-14
Gospel: Jn 9:1-41

Cycle C
First Reading: Jos. 5:9a, 10-12
Psalm 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Second Reading: 2 Cor. 5:17-21
Gospel: Lk. 15:1-3, 11-12

Both of the first readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent highlight our connection to and dependence on the land. After recalling their preservation from death during the Passover, the Israelites eat the produce of the land and no longer require manna from heaven. When Samuel goes to anoint a king for the people, God calls David from the fields where he was tending sheep; from his line the Savior will free all from death.
 
David’s song to the Lord our Shepherd prompts us to ask whether we allow God to lead in all aspects of our lives. What is our relationship to “verdant pastures” (Ps. 23:1)? What do we know about the quality of the land that produces what we eat? Are we blind to potential areas of individual and social sin in our food systems?
 
Unlike the Pharisees in John 9, may we neither cling to our ignorance nor focus our attention on the sins of others. After all, God made Christ “to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). May we turn to Christ for the grace to see our food systems through his eyes and to bring his “message of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19) to those relationships. Christ used clay as an instrument of his healing power. He can use our earthly bodies also to heal the land.

Paul describes the works of darkness as “fruitless” and calls for transparency in our conduct: “everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light” (Eph. 5:13-14). As “ambassadors for Christ” (1 Cor. 5:20), whose light triumphs over darkness in the Paschal Mystery, let us seek honest, open, and fruitful relationships with those who feed us. 

PRAYER

Creator God,
By your labor the earth abounds.
You raise grass for the cattle and plants for our beasts of burden.
You bring bread from the earth, and wine to gladden our hearts,
Oil to make our faces gleam, food to build our strength.
How varied are your works, LORD!
In wisdom you have wrought them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
All of these look to you to give them food in due time.
(Psalm 104:13-15, 24, 27)

As we, too, are your works and creatures, may we look to you for our food.
Help us to seek your will for the farmers, flocks, and fields that feed us.
Thank you for these and all your gifts.
Amen.

FASTING from foods produced outside your region

How are we preparing for the impact of environmental changes on access to food? How can we safeguard the produce of our land and the land of other countries? One might not expect the Gospels to offer a direct response to these questions. Yet Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son offers a powerful commentary on contemporary food systems.

The son squanders his inheritance in “a distant country…on a life of dissipation” (Luke 15:13). Similarly, about 80% of the money most Americans spend on “food” is dissipated (scattered or dispersed) to finance transportation (for an average of 1500 to 2500 miles from farm to fork), refrigeration, packaging, and marketing. The energy that these other sectors consume often far exceeds the energy that these food products provide.

The son returns when famine strikes the foreign land; many of our policies do more to aggravate rather than prevent famine in developing nations. In reconciliation with his father, the prodigal son discovers at home an abundance that he had not appreciated; those who support or participate in local agriculture often discover both renewed relationships with farmers and better tasting, more nutritious food. At no cost to the older brother who has enjoyed his father’s bounty, the younger brother receives his inheritance anew; community gardening enriches diverse populations and can produce hundreds of dollars of fresh fruits and vegetables, which can be a significant help to low-income families. (To learn more about the economic impacts of supporting locally grown food, visit the Food Security Learning Center.)

Depending on our current lifestyles, our commitment to local agriculture this week can take many forms. We can begin by assessing how much of the food we purchase comes from local sources. We can abstain from one non-local food item that we use regularly or make an effort to purchase all of our produce or animal products locally. We can join a community-supported agriculture (CSA) group or connect with a local farm. However we respond, let us live out our conviction that when we trust in God, there is nothing we shall want. Perhaps we will find, as did the prodigal son, that our cup overflows with local delights. Then we shall “taste and see the goodness of the Lord” (Ps. 34:9) in a new way and be “a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17) in Christ.

To search for local food in your area, visit the Eat Well Guide  or Food Routes. 

Test your knowledge with this Food Choices Quiz (PDF) and Answers (PDF).

Read “Eating Oil,” (PDF) a British study on fueling the food system.

ALMSGIVING

The Care for Creation Center  at St. Bernardine’s Monastery in Hollidaysburg, PA began as a seed of thought shared by four friars concerned about the environment (Br. Steve Baker, Fr. Patrick Foley, Br. John Kerr, and Fr. Bill Linhares). At a community retreat in August 2008, the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular (TOR), Province of the Immaculate Conception, reflected on the above friars’ desire for the community to be stewards of their land and produce healthy food for all, as well as to find “deeper ways to connect with and preserve our planet.” This seed eventually took root in the larger community and the Care for Creation Center at the Motherhouse is now planted and growing.
 
While cultivating less than an acre of land, the Center offered eight sessions on topics related to gardening and care for creation during their inaugural season in the summer of 2009. Local Secular Franciscans and other lay people organized a Summer Bounty Festival that August and a Fall Harvest Festival in October to celebrate a year of learning and living off the land. Fr. Pat Foley, the Project Director of the initiative, reports that more than 100 persons in Central Pennsylvania have since shared in a vision of a “community centered on growing healthy food and fostering a sustainable approach to living and spirituality.”
 
This past January, the provincial Chapter expressed formal support for the Center through a resolution. The Center intends to expand their acreage this year and offer a four-week course with area gardeners in March in addition to offering nine presentations during the growing season and two festivals. As the Center continues to build relationships with the local community, the friars hope to establish a small CSA program in 2011. They are also committed to sharing their produce with volunteers, a local food kitchen, and a local nursing home.