September 18. “Why is it that in one family people can turn out so differently?  They come from the same background, have some different genes but is there something in the environment that affects them.”  “Maybe they had a bad friend, or someone abused them, or maybe others were more loved or spoiled.”  They read the parable of the sower and how the same seed was sown but grew up so differently.  “Isn’t that true for us too?” Dad asked. Mom thought, “What kind of soil are we preparing for these young people on the brink of life?”

“A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trodden under foot and the birds of the air devoured it. Read Luke 8:4-15.

Pope Francis:  It is important that people experience the gospel of the family as a joy that fills hearts and lives because in Christ we have been set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness.  As in the parable of the sower we are called to help sow seeds, the rest is God’s work.  The Church wishes with humility and compassion to reach out to families and to help each family to discover the best way to overcome any obstacles it encounters.  AL 200.  Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost for ever and will no longer give glory to God by their very existence. The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. We have no such right. LS. 33.

ECO-TIP AND PRAYER:  Join a food gardening programmes and compost food waste.  Pray and thank God for daily food. Pray “Glory be to the Father……