Season of the Seed

Advent is the season of the seed: Christ loved this symbol of the seed.

The seed, He said, is the Word of God sown in the human heart.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed."

"So is the Kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed into the earth."

Even his own life-blood: "Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone."

The Advent, the seed of the world's life, was hidden in Our Lady.

Like the wheat seed in the earth, the seed of the Bread of Life was in her.

Like the golden harvest in the darkness of the earth, the Glory of God was shrined in her darkness.

Advent is the season of the secret, the secret of the growth of Christ, of Divine Love growing in silence.

It is the season of humility, silence, and growth.

~Caryll Houselander in The Reed of God

Dear Mary, Virgin of Advent, during these Advent days, may we rejoice with you in the Divine Seed, nurturing it carefully and cherishing it always, so that at Christmas we may also rejoice in the fruit of your womb, Jesus, the Glory of God. Amen.