By Sherry Antonetti

 

 

“What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul? Ministers through whom you became believers, just as the Lord assigned each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor. For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” ~1 Corinthians 3:5-9

We are to be about the business of plowing the field, watering and tending the vineyard of our faith, as well as, receiving God’s Word as the soil.

We must be active in cultivating others and receptive to God always working on us. It is both a situation of knowing that any growth in others comes from God. Of understanding, we must yet be about the business of fostering others’ receptivity to God.

For me, nothing reflects the reality of living a Catholic life like parenting. All of parenting is learning to die to the self. The woman, in allowing her body to be reshaped, allows another to live. The man, in allowing his life to be reshaped, helps support those who he helped create.

They were husband and wife. They have now, one flesh—flesh of their flesh—for whom they will spend the rest of their lives, dying to the self, as a form of reckless generosity, pouring love out onto the souls entrusted to them.

We prepare the meals that help them grow; they do the growing. We introduce them to all we think is right, true, and beautiful, but they must decide all these things on their own. We are to foster their growth, and yet, when they grow, it is theirs to celebrate. Being Catholic, like being a parent, means to pour out Christ while diminishing ourselves.

 

About the author:

Sherry Antonetti is a Catholic wife/mother and teacher.
You can find her work at the Catholic Standard and National Catholic Register.
Email her at sherryantonettiwrites@yahoo.com.