“Some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” Matthew 13:8
In the ebb and flow of life as a campus minister, the summer is definitely more of an “ebb” time. With fewer students, faculty and staff on campus, the pace slows significantly compared to the academic year when campus is teeming with people and energy. If we hope that the seeds we plant in our ministry will produce, a hundred, sixty or thirtyfold, the ebb of the summer becomes prime time to till the soil. I am one who likes results and finds great joy in the harvest; I can often bristle at the time and patience that it takes to get to the harvest. At the novitiate, I took up gardening, especially planting things from seed, and this physical activity helped me appreciate even more the time, energy and discipline that goes into preparing. Our efforts can help the master grow a bountiful harvest!
During the summer, tilling the proverbial soil looks like the practicalities of planning and preparing for the semester and year ahead. We do a deep clean of our office and Chapel and make sure that we’re physically ready to welcome students back. Tilling also means engaging in study and reflection on the bigger questions of ministry on a college campus. How am in understanding the students that I am called to serve? Reading, study and deeper conversation with other people engaged in this ministry help us understand the bigger questions and contexts that those entrusted to our care are facing. When I take a step back and look at the bigger picture, I find that I’m able to think a little bit differently about some of the practical issues that I tend to think most often about.
Tilling the soil also includes taking advantage of the time over the summer to tend to my own garden as a priest and religious in Holy Cross. (I did also tend a little garden of my own!) Our Constitutions speak of the need for each religious “to draw aside from his occupations and preoccupations every year for a retreat of several days’ undisturbed prayer and reflection.” The summer provides great opportunity for our annual retreat and time and space to refocus on prayer and the spiritual life. These moments of stepping away remind us that we are working in God’s vineyard, not our own. As St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6) There is a lot of freedom in this statement!
Lastly, tilling the soil for me always includes spending time with my family and my brothers in Holy Cross. This year I got to celebrate my parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary and a Mass of Thanksgiving for my younger brother, Michael, who was ordained a Holy Cross priest in April. In addition to good time with our local community, King’s College also hosted the Provincial Chapter which doubled as an opportunity to reconnect with many of my brothers in Holy Cross! As the beginning of the semester draws closer, we continue to till the soil and hope and pray that our efforts might assist God in growing an abundant harvest among those we serve!
Fr. Brogan Ryan, C.S.C.
Published 07 August 2024
