“You did not choose me but I chose you,” these words we hear from Jesus in our gospel today resound through the ages, Christ Jesus calling us each by name and appointing us to go and bear fruit here and now, the fruit of love. Having chosen us, God does not leave us to our own devices but brings us day by day to abundant fruitfulness.

Plants of all shapes and sizes which come from seeds planted in the richness of Mother Earth, produce blossoms of one sort or another before the fruit appears. The fruit starts out quite small and grows to maturity, ripeness, over time. Letting nature be our teacher, we might envision Christ Jesus as the sower of the seed in our hearts (cf. the parable of the sower, Mt.13:18-23, Mk4:3-9, Lk.8:5-8) as he chooses us to be bearers of the fruit of love, knowing full well what the soil of our hearts looks like. With the seed planted, God begins the work of transformation, turning our barren, unproductive, weed-filled hearts into rich, accepting humus ready to take on the task of being fruitful.

It doesn’t happen overnight. Sometimes seeds have to be planted more than once. Sometimes we need more sunshine, or more rain, or more fertilizer for our love to sprout and grow strong. Eventually, however, we spy the first bud foretelling of the blossoms to come and before we know it, we will be in full bloom ready to bear fruit. What your blooms will produce will produce and what mine will produce will, no doubt, be different, but in whatever form it appears, love will be the fruit of the Divine Sower that comes forth from our transformed hearts.

We are called to “Bloom where you are planted” as the saying goes, trusting in the Holy One to bring us into the particular fruitfulness that is needed right here and

now in “this fragile earth, our island home.” (BCP, p.370