Will you plant a garden this year?

I have a raised tiered garden that requires a lot of watering and fertilizing, but it puts out a surprising amount of food. This year I’ll only plant a few things—lettuces, cherry tomatoes, dill and basil. It amazes me that such tiny seeds put up sprouts and shoots and leaves and fruits and vegetables. I water and the sun shines, but I don’t make that seed break into a new life. It’s doing what it was meant to do. It totally changes from its first form, but its first form is the precursor to what will be! The lettuce seed won’t become a tomato. If conditions aren’t right, it might not even become the lettuce it’s meant to be. That would be sad and a waste. 

This time of year we naturally start to look at changes. Graduations and weddings are coming. Those achievements are wonderful and to be celebrated. But it has a touch of sadness at the same time. Those milestones mean life changes for the whole family. Kids have grown and become and now they’re launching. None of us are meant to stay the same. We aren't meant to stay seeds. We’re meant to bear fruit, it’s built into us. We need the right conditions as well. 

We need love. Love that cares for the other, that’s not selfish and grabby. Saint Pope John Paul II said, “Love consists of a commitment which limits one's freedom - it is a giving of the self, and to give oneself means just that: to limit one's freedom on behalf of another.” We have such an example. That’s exactly what God did! He limited himself and became human like us and he did it for us. He does not use us or force us, he woos us – the groom in love with his bride. What a wonder that is!! We are intended for love, it’s built into us to become lovers. The Mass, the Word of God, the Eucharist, the love of family and friends all fertilize our lives. 

When you bring canned fruits, oatmeal, vegetables— or in some cases eggs!—when you give so we can purchase those foods to give to people, at least two things are happening. You are limiting your freedom in order to come and give love to someone you don’t know. And in giving like that, you are sharing love with neighbors who sometimes don’t have much love in their lives. That’s an evangelism that fertilizes our neighborhood! It might look like a can of green beans, but it’s much more! May all our seeds flourish with new life, may we share with joy, and may we become good fruit! 

Happy Easter and God bless us all! 

~Lawson Hunsicker Food Ministries Coordinator

St. Mary Neighborhood Food Pantry

The food pantry began in 2010 with a few cans of food and a locker for those in need. Over the years, thanks to generous donations, it expanded and, by 2022, became a full-time community outreach ministry. It operates entirely on food donations and funds, and is open over 50 hours a month, more than any other pantry in Madison County. The pantry also partners with other local pantries, a meat wholesaler in Indianapolis, and St. John Vianney Church in Fishers for additional support.