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Week 1

The Cultivator

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Genesis 2:15–17

From the beginning, God called man to be a cultivator.

God placed Adam in the garden and gave him charge of it. He was to work the soil, nurture the plants, and be fruitful as he, in turn, made the garden fruitful. He was to love and protect his wife and live out the will of his heavenly Father. His work was to define his relationship with God, to help him to grow into the man he was created to become, and to live in obedience as he gave glory to the One who was the source of all his life. By his daily labors, he was to fill the earth; and together in a community of love, he was to raise up a people after God’s own heart. In short, as he completed the work God had given him, he would become complete as a man of God, building the family of God in fulfillment of God’s will.

Adam, however, sinned by disobeying God’s command concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. His act of pride, selfishness, and rebellion led to sin, toil, and sadness. It led to death and exclusion from the kingdom of heaven. Because of the sin of one man, the first Adam, our daily toil is difficult, and we become weary doing it. Our original call to cultivate this world has been corrupted, and our labor comes at the price of sorrow and sweat.

But because of Jesus Christ, the second Adam, we who believe have been raised to new life (cf. 1 Cor 15:45–49). Our labors on this earth now have a new purpose. And because Jesus has told us that the kingdom of heaven is among us now, living itself out in our very lives (cf. Lk 17:21), we know that our efforts as men can bear eternal fruit for the kingdom of God.

So what does being a cultivator in today’s world look like?

1. A cultivator takes responsibility.

For each of us, our “world” includes our wives, children, and extended families. It includes our parish and workplace. And it includes our sphere of influence wherever we go. As cultivators, we need to nurture our relationships, do our work for the glory of God, and build the kingdom through our words and deeds. Our every action should share the truth of the gospel and the love of Christ with a broken world. We cannot sit back and watch the world fall apart. Instead, we must do as Christ commanded and witness to the power of the gospel.

2. A cultivator is a man of integrity.

We need to build relationships on a foundation of honesty and integrity as we interact with those around us. We must speak boldly about injustices and look for solutions that are centered on our faith. What we experience on Sunday should be lived out every day of the week. There should be no difference between our “faith lives” and our “everyday lives.” Integrity must be at the core of all we are and all we do. Our faith-filled lives must contribute to building a just and spiritually prosperous society in the image of God. Integrity should be so much a part of us that every word and action becomes a reflection of God that spills out to the world in godly and loving ways.

3. A cultivator submits in humility to God’s call on his life.

As we work the soil of humanity, looking for growth, we need to work the soil of our own heart as well. This means yielding to the law of love and living our Catholic Faith, knowing that we are sinners saved by grace and members of the Body of Christ. As we seek to serve this broken world, we cannot forget our own brokenness. God has called us and given each of us unique gifts to work with him to build his kingdom, but our giftedness should lead us to right living and thanksgiving for all we have been given. We must recognize our own need and allow it to connect us to the Church that Christ established for our welfare.

4. A cultivator is a sacramental man.

We cannot become the men we are meant to be without holding on firmly to the sacraments, our lifeline to Christ. We have been baptized into the Church and confirmed in our faith. We have the Eucharist as our nourishment and the promise of freedom from sin through the confessional. Our vocations — whether to marriage, the priesthood or religious life, or singleness — should reflect Christ’s love for his people. The sacraments should be our foundation, our strength, and our unity. As we participate in them, we join with all men of faith, carrying out the will of Jesus Christ our Head.

5. A cultivator turns his gaze toward heaven.

This world is full of beauty and purpose, but it is not all there is. By our baptism, we have been seated with Christ in the heavens, and every day of our lives we should be moving forward along the path to Paradise. This means spending time every day with our Savior in prayer. It means growing in our study of God’s word and our rich traditions, spreading the gospel to the nations, carrying out the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, and cooperating with God’s grace as we are remade through the Spirit into the saints he calls us to be.

This Week’s Call to Action

This week, consider what it means to be a cultivator in God’s kingdom and begin to find ways to live out these great truths in your everyday life. Spend time each day in personal prayer, reading God’s word and studying your Catholic Faith through spiritual reading. Find ways to grow your relationships with your family by talking about faith and life over dinner, praying together, and truly listening to and responding to individual needs. Seek out your Catholic brothers and talk about your Christian walk, your struggles, and your goals over coffee; and then pledge to pray for each other and to hold one another accountable in Christ. Find ways to become more active in your parish through service and at worship. Be a man who represents Christ and his Church well. And look forward to all the blessings that are to come in God’s good time!

Sunday

As Catholic men, being a cultivator is closely tied with our worship. The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist serve to break up the soil of our hearts, plant the seeds of faith, and nourish the growth that takes place in our lives. This week, as we begin to unpack what it means to be cultivators, let the celebration of the Mass help to produce a fruitful harvest within you that you can share in your home, your workplace, your parish, and your community.

The Eucharist celebrates the sacrificial death of Jesus that has led to our salvation. As we receive the sacrament, we are called to go into the world and make disciples, cultivating in others’ lives that same self-giving spirit that has been poured into us by God. There are so many who have become hardened in their outlook, fallow soil just waiting for the power and presence of Christ to bring them new life and new hope. We are tasked with bringing that hope through serving others, building them up, and drawing them closer to the One who offers them eternal life.

As you celebrate the Eucharist this weekend, let the sacred symbols of the Mass serve to prepare the soil of your soul for the week ahead as you allow the Lord to do a good work in you. Let the holy water and the Sign of the Cross remind you of your baptismal promises. Find forgiveness in the Penitential Act and the Kyrie. Let your praise rise in the Gloria and your wonder grow through the Liturgy of the Word and the homily. Speak the words of the Creed with conviction, and let your voice ring with the angels of heaven as you recite the Holy, Holy, Holy. Kneel in wonder as the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of the Lord. Come humbly before the Father as you recite the Lord’s Prayer and the Lamb of God. Receive the Eucharist with thanksgiving and go forth from the Mass to be sent into the world as servants of the kingdom.

Questions for Reflection

In what ways is my heart hardened, keeping the seeds of faith from growing? What can I do this week to start to till the soil and make room for God to do his work?

What relationships in my life need the most cultivating right now? What is one concrete action I can commit to this week to start doing that work of cultivating?

Praying with Scripture

“And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it’” (Gen 1:28).

Monday

A cultivator takes responsibility.

For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

Titus 2:11–14

As we walk the narrow way of Christ, we are called to be responsible stewards of the grace God has given us. This means being men who live with our eyes focused on the glory to be revealed in Christ. Because we are being trained by the grace of God, we must seek to share the gospel in our world through our words and actions, always discerning God’s plan for his people. Wherever our spheres of influence reach, we are called to nurture relationships of faith, hope, and love, doing good as God has gifted us. We are to love our families as sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers who follow the way of the Lord with soberness and fidelity. We are to work for the Lord and not for men. As members of the Church, we are to use our specific talents to shape the Body of Christ, which so powerfully shapes us. Our ultimate goal should be to cultivate a kingdom of purity, passion, and persevering faith as we await the return of our Savior.

Today, praise God for the strength he gives you to bear your responsibility in the world. Thank him for the privilege of joining him in his work. Take delight in sharing the growth in your life with those who instruct and inspire you. As you continue to take responsibility for cultivating the life God has given you, never stop working to respond to the cry of this broken world.

Questions for Reflection

What defines your world as far as the people within your sphere of influence, your particular gifts, and your responsibilities to cultivate a kingdom ready for the return of Christ?

What are some of the areas in your life where you think God might be calling you to greater responsibility, and how can you respond to that call?

Praying with Scripture

“Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Cor 16:13–14).

Tuesday

A cultivator is a man of integrity.

Put away from you crooked speech,

and put devious talk far from you.

Let your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

Take heed to the path of your feet,

then all your ways will be sure.

Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

Proverbs 4:24–27

Though honesty and integrity may seem like outdated values, a true cultivator knows that they are essential to reaping a harvest for the kingdom of God. Just as a farmer must keep his eyes on what is directly ahead in order to plow straight furrows, Catholic men need to keep their focus on the narrow way of Christ. We cannot accomplish this if we stray from the path of truth.

We are called to shine as beacons of integrity in a darkened world. Our words and actions must be grounded in our faith and stand as examples of what it means to be a member of the Body of Christ. Our integrity cannot be something we pull out only on Sundays, but we must also carry the call of the gospel out to our world during the week. When others see Christ in the way we live, their hearts will become more open to the seeds of truth we sow in their lives. We will be able to walk with them like a team of oxen, sharing the load and bearing our burdens together as we work toward the goal of heaven. Hikers watch their steps as they move along a narrow mountain path. In the same way, we must fix our eyes on the goal of our faith, to make sure we do not stumble or cause others to stumble along the way. Remember, the world is watching!

Questions for Reflection

How important is it to you to be a man of integrity?

Do your words and actions during the week reflect the sacrament you participate in on Sunday?

What steps can you take to cultivate honesty and integrity in your life?

Praying with Scripture

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; / he turns it wherever he will. / Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, / but the Lord weighs the heart. / To do righteousness and justice / is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice” (Prov 21:1–3).

Wednesday

A cultivator submits in humility to God’s call on his life.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:1–6

How many of us see ourselves as “prisoners” of Christ — captured and bound in his service? This does not mean that our faith is a prison sentence that strips us of our freedom and fun. On the contrary, real men understand that only in submission to Christ do we find our true freedom and strength. We are broken men in need of a Savior.

A submissive spirit is an open spirit, ready for the life-changing work that God will do in our lives. Our brokenness allows God to cultivate the soil of our souls, planting his law of love within us and producing a harvest of good works in his name. As we surrender to our calling as Catholics, we receive the strength to become worthy men who live out the grace we have been given in Christ. We accept our place within the Church, our call to look to our fields of labor within this broken world, and our duty to help shape other broken hearts as the Spirit has shaped ours.

A life lived in surrender to the gospel yields a harvest of unity, peace, faith, and hope, because God can take our shattered dreams and transform them by his perfect plan of love. Then we can reach out to the lost and shape their broken world through our own brokenness that has been overcome by the cross of Christ. God’s grace, lived out in love, leads to thanksgiving and deeper intimacy with our brothers and sisters and a world in need of a Savior. Our unity as a Church overflows into the world and harvests souls for the kingdom of God.

Questions for Reflection

How is yielding to God’s work in your broken heart producing strength and purpose in your life?

What areas in your life still need to yield to the cultivating power of Christ, and how can you work to surrender to the Spirit’s loving care?

How are you working for unity within the Church and carrying that out into the world?

Praying with Scripture

“He has showed you, O man, what is good; / and what does the Lord require of you / but to do justice, and to love kindness, / and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic 6:8).

Thursday

A cultivator is a sacramental man.

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

1 Corinthians 10:16–17

We cannot become the men God has made us to be without sharing in the sacramental life of the Church.

Our Catholic Faith is a sacramental faith. The sacraments are great signs of God’s love, which strengthen and empower us to live as believers in Christ. The sacraments allow us to share in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, both as a future hope and a present reality. We can look forward to the harvest of heaven and yet experience the promises of our faith in how we live out the graces of the sacraments in the here and now. The sacraments allow us to become signs of Christ’s love to our family of faith and the lost world around us.

For many men, the sacraments have become so routine that their deeper meaning has become clouded. But we are called to pour ourselves into our faith, even as the sacraments pour out God’s grace into our lives. As we allow the sacraments to shape us and fill us with the power and presence of God, we become true signs of Christ’s sacrificial love, spilling ourselves into the lives of others, transforming their hearts as the Spirit has transformed ours. What a sobering reality it is to know that these great signs of God’s love allow us to touch the souls of others and lead them into the kingdom of God!

Questions for Reflection

How would you describe your participation in the sacraments and the quality of your sacramental life?

What does being a sacramental man mean for you in terms of how you live out your future hope in the here and now?

How do the graces of the sacraments empower you to shape the lives of others, particularly other men?

Praying with Scripture

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:3–4).

Friday

A cultivator turns his gaze toward heaven.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord

who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1–2

Those who keep their eyes fixed on heaven will find the strength they need to climb every mountain and walk through every valley along the way to heaven. Rather than focusing on the temporary trappings of this life, we allow the One who is our helper and our protector to lift us up from the stagnation of this world and transform us as we walk the journey toward heaven. This single-minded vision enables us to see our lives from eternity’s perspective and shapes how we grow as believers and, in turn, speak and move in the lives of others.

Psalm 121 is one of a number of the “Songs of Ascents” — holy hymns sung by pilgrims as they made their way to Jerusalem for the great Jewish feasts. Just as these sacred words spurred on the people of God, they can motivate us to live lives filled with hope as we await the harvest that is to come. We will cherish our reading of the word of God, celebrate our rich heritage as members of the Church, and go out into the world to harvest the souls of the lost. We are on a holy pilgrimage toward the eternal city, calling others to join us as we give praise to the One who transforms us and leads us home.

Questions for Reflection

How would you describe your pilgrimage toward heaven at this time in your life?

What things in your life are keeping you from fixing your gaze on heaven and God’s love for you?

What can you do to cultivate a greater intimacy with Christ and recognize his care for you?

Praying with Scripture

“To you I lift up my eyes, / O you who are enthroned in the heavens!” (Ps 123:1).

Saturday

Go Deeper

How is God calling me to be a cultivator? Where in my life do I live out this calling well? Where do I think I could be a better cultivator?

Did I make time for prayer and Scripture reading this week? If yes, how can I commit to doing the same next week? If no, what concrete steps can I take to make time next week?

Do I participate actively in the sacraments of the Church? What are two or three steps I can take to become a sacramental man?

Do I look forward to blessings? What blessings came my way this week?