For me, the hardest part of prayer has always been turning my mind off and listening to what God has to say.  But it seems that no matter how hard it is, if I just shut up and listen something always comes to mind.  This week, I was really struggling in my prayer time because something kept popping into my head. 

My wife has been out of town this week and I’ve been working on putting in an irrigation system in our back yard.  I’ve been planning it in my mind and makings runs to Home Depot almost daily.  But, the whole time I was trying to pray and listen to God, my irrigation system kept popping up in my mind.  The harder I tried to ignore it, the more it kept coming up.

Then I realized, I was supposed to think about watering the garden!  You see, my wife and I planted new flower beds this year, but we didn’t have a good watering system in place.  Over the summer we’ve lost many of the plants due to the heat and for lack of water.  Now I’m putting in an irrigation system so the plants have a chance to succeed. 

What came to me in prayer, is that my garden is much like the Fellowship.  The seeds have been planted and have sprouted in many parishes across the diocese.  Over the last 10 years some parishes have flourished, some have struggled and some have faded away, just like the plants in my garden.  Without water, just as my plants have struggled, so have some of our local men’s fellowships.

If we are alive in our faith, we have an obligation to plant the seeds, but we also need to water the garden.  We have a responsibility to our own families and parishes to make sure they are vibrant and growing.  Some of us embrace the responsibility to plant the seeds in other parishes or water the garden in those parishes where ministries already exist.

Each week, I ask for your prayers, your time and your financial support.  Prayers, time and financial support are how you can “Plant the seeds and Water the garden”.  This week, I would like to specifically ask for your time.
We need men willing to form or participate in parish core teams.  The time commitment is normally under 10 hours per month.  This is a way for you to plant the seeds and water the garden in your parish.  You can do this by reaching out to your core team lead, or if your parish doesn’t have a fellowship, send me a note and the CTFCM can assist you.

We also need men willing to work across parish boundaries.  This takes about 15 hours per month.  If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, send me a note and we can meet and discuss it further.
Finally, consider getting a group of men together for the conference and buying a block of tickets.  This is a great way to plant the seed.  Visit centexcatholic.com to do so.

May Almighty God Continue to Bless each and every one of you.