Blueprint for Catholic Living, Part 4 – "The Prayer of Going Forth and Seeking Within"
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The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”
Genesis 2:15–17
From the beginning, God called man to be a cultivator. God placed Adam in the garden and gave him charge of it. He was to work the soil, nurture the plants, and be fruitful as he, in turn, made the garden fruitful. He was to love and protect his wife and live out the will of his heavenly Father. His work was to define his relationship with God, to help him to grow into the man he was created to become, and to live in obedience as he gave glory to the One who was the source of all his life. By his daily labors, he was to fill the earth; and together in a community of love, he was to raise up a people after God’s own heart. In short, as he completed the work God had given him, he would become complete as a man of God, building the family of God in fulfillment of God’s will.
Adam, however, sinned by disobeying God’s command concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. His act of pride, selfishness, and rebellion led to sin, toil, and sadness.
It led to death and exclusion from the kingdom of heaven. Because of the sin of one man, the first Adam, our daily toil is difficult, and we become weary doing it. Our original call to cultivate this world has been corrupted, and our labor comes at the price of sorrow and sweat.
But because of Jesus Christ, the second Adam, we who believe have been raised to new life (1 Cor 15:45–49). Our labors on this earth now have a new purpose. And because Jesus has told us that the kingdom of heaven is among us now, living itself out in our very lives (Lk 17:21), we know that our efforts as men can bear eternal fruit for the kingdom of God.
So what does being a cultivator in today’s world look like?
1. A cultivator takes responsibility.
For each of us, our “world” includes our wives, children, and extended families. It includes our parish and workplace. And it includes our sphere of influence wherever we go. As cultivators, we need to nurture our relationships, do our work for the glory of God, and build the kingdom through our words and deeds. Our every action should share the truth of the Gospel and the love of Christ with a broken world. We cannot sit back and watch the world fall apart. Instead, we must do as Christ commanded and witness to the power of the Gospel.
2. A cultivator is a man of integrity.
We need to build relationships on a foundation of honesty and integrity as we interact with those around us. We must speak boldly about injustices and look for solutions that are centered on our faith. What we experience on Sunday should be lived out every day of the week. There should be no difference between our “faith lives” and our “everyday lives.” Integrity must be at the core of all we are and all we do. Our faith-filled lives must contribute to building a just and spiritually prosperous society in the image of God. Integrity should be so much a part of us that every word and action becomes a reflection of God that spills out to the world in godly and loving ways.
3. A cultivator submits in humility to God’s call on his life.
As we work the soil of humanity, looking for growth, we need to work the soil of our own heart as well. This means yielding to the law of love and living our Catholic Faith, knowing that we are sinners saved by grace and members of the Body of Christ. As we seek to serve this broken world, we cannot forget our own brokenness. God has called us and given each of us unique gifts to work with him to build his kingdom, but our giftedness should lead us to right living and thanksgiving for all we have been given. We must recognize our own need and allow it to connect us to the Church that Christ established for our welfare.
4. A cultivator is a sacramental man.
We cannot become the men we are meant to be without holding on firmly to the sacraments, our lifeline to Christ. We have been baptized into the Church and confirmed in our faith. We have the Eucharist as our nourishment, and the promise of freedom from sin through the confessional. Our vocations — whether to marriage, the priesthood or religious life, or singleness — should reflect Christ’s love for his people. The sacraments should be our foundation, our strength, and our unity. As we participate in them, we join with all men of faith, carrying out the will of Jesus Christ our Head.
5. A cultivator turns his gaze toward heaven.
This world is full of beauty and purpose, but it is not all there is. By our baptism, we have been seated with Christ in the heavens, and every day of our lives we should be moving forward along the path to Paradise. This means spending time every day with our Savior in prayer. It means growing in our study of God’s word and our rich traditions, spreading the Gospel to the nations, carrying out the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, and cooperating with God’s grace as we are remade through the Spirit into the saints he calls us to be.
A Call to Action
This week, consider what it means to be a cultivator in God’s kingdom and begin to find ways to live out these great truths in your everyday life. Spend time each day in personal prayer, reading God’s word and studying your Catholic Faith through spiritual reading. Find ways to grow your relationships with your family by talking about faith and life over dinner, praying together, and truly listening to and responding to individual needs. Meet your Catholic brothers for lunch or coffee and talk about your Christian walk, your struggles, and your goals; and then pledge to pray for each other and to hold one another accountable in Christ. Find ways to become more active in your parish through service and at worship. Be a man who represents Christ and his Church well. And look forward to all the blessings that are to come in God’s good time!
You can learn more about the To the Ends of the Earth devotionals HERE
Mark C. McCann is an author and Ministry Consultant with more than 30 years of writing and ministry experience. He has published articles for a number of Catholic magazines and websites including St. Anthony Messenger, Emmanuel Magazine, Liguorian Magazine, Catholic Stand, the Connecticut Catholic Men's Conference, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review. He recently published the 4-volume Catholic men's devotional, To the Ends of the Earth, as well as the 2021 Advent Daybreaks devotional and 2022 Lenten Daybreaks devotional with Liguori Publishing. He has also released his End Times novel series, Jacob's Dream: The Vision and Jacob's Dream: The Final Battle. He was a radio host and producer for 8 years at a Connecticut Christian radio station and has worked as a Catholic religion teacher/campus minister and a parish youth minister. He has also served the Norwich, CT Diocese as a Youth Ministry Director and Family Life Director. He currently lives in Connecticut with his Proverbs 31 wife, where together they have brought up three incredible children. He strives each day to live out his call to be a man of words. You can learn more about Mark and his writing at www.wordsnvisions.com.
