Some like the Spring season best. The new growth, the smell of cool rain that cleans the last of winter away and the first hints of green from the grass and trees is what appeals to some. Spring signifies a newness and freshness that helps motivate us to get busy for long productive days in the sun. 

 

Some like summer best with its deep warmth and fruitfulness. Summer is filled with lush green and ripe with fruits of the trees and gardens full of plants bursting with life-giving vegetables and fruits. 

 

And there are many folks who love a cold day of winter when they can enjoy a fresh powder of snow to walk, ski or snowmobile on. The winter allows the earth to rest. Winter allows us to slow a bit in the cold stillness. Winter can be a time for returning to the inside of our homes to enjoy the company of others by a warm fire or over a hot beverage.

 

And then there is the fall season, which is my favorite. 

 

When the leaves turn from green to brilliant colors of bright orange, lemon yellow and burnt red, I never cease to sigh in awe at the brilliant brush with which God paints our world. It is such a beautiful time that signifies the end of the growing season and a time to prepare. 

 

Yes, it’s time to prepare for the onslaught of the holiday season by making plans for fall festivals, to stock up on candy for trick or treating, make preparations for the holidays and for celebrating with family and friends on Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

 

The beautiful month of October and the fall season is a time when we become like Martha in the Gospel when she runs around and gets everything ready for our Lord and her guests by making sure the house is clean and comfortable and enough food is prepared so everyone can gather and enjoy. Too many times the pace goes from languid to frenetic all too quickly in the days approaching Advent, and we lose our Mary minds.

 

So perhaps before we rush breakneck into the holidays and all the practical and secular preparations and expectations we should still our Martha hands and become like Mary who turned to her Lord and listened with great intent.

 

I know how difficult this is. I have always struggled with this Gospel. We need the Martha’s of the world. We need hospitality. Feedback from the Synod discussions have identified hospitality and communication as great needs of the Church yet we tend to treat them as luxuries instead of necessities in the context of evangelization. But like Mary, we need to understand that our preparations mean nothing if not fortified with witness and understanding that come from a relationship in Christ.

 

So while the fall landscapes offer us a constant canvas of God’s handiwork, perhaps we can sit back and reflect on how each one of us, in these times when our parishes are desperate for participation, can help bring vibrant seasons to parish life. Take time to listen through prayer and the rustling leaves for what it is that God wants for and from us. Give yourself a pre-holiday gift and seek to be a combination of Martha and Mary. Maybe start with a reflection on these words from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and remember God is in all seasons. 

 

There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.

 

A time to give birth, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.

 

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build.

 

A time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

 

A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. 

 

A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away.

 

A time to rend, and a time to sew, a time to be silent, and a time to speak.

 

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time for peace.