Bishop Mulvey blesses fruits of the harvest at Thanksgiving Mass at Sacred Heart in Three Rivers.

Alfredo Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

Several hundred people joined Bishop Michael Mulvey for Mass at Sacred Heart parish in Three Rivers on Oct. 20 to give thanksgiving for this year’s harvest. This is the third year Bishop Mulvey has celebrated the Mass of Thanksgiving for the Harvest.

He said that he has continued to pray for rain and asked others to do the same. It seems that those prayers have borne fruit as the Lord has sent good rains in recent weeks. The Nueces River is overflowing and Lake Corpus Christi is near capacity.

Bishop Mulvey reminded those in attendance that God chose a rural area to send His son; He did send Him to the middle of Jerusalem but to Bethlehem. “What a beautiful reality that God sent His son to that setting to that type of life; with people who were part of a rural setting,” Bishop Mulvey said.

He said rural life is important to society, not just the church. “Here values grow, values are sustained; the value of family, the values of community. You sustain each other; you care for each other; you’re there for each other,” the bishop said. “These values are a precious treasure for all of us.”

Another important trait found in rural areas is hard work, the bishop said. “You work hard and you pray hard. You realize its not just your labors; its your labors and God’s grace. You know ultimately it is not only you, it’s the community and God who sustains us in all that we do,” Bishop Mulvey said. “That’s what builds our society; you are the backbone of our society and of our church.”

He challenged those present to renew their commitment to be good stewards with the gifts that God has given them. He told them to put their strength and effort to working the land for the glory of God and the benefit of others.

The land—worked by human hands and nurtured by God’s grace—is what sustains human life, he said. “Human life is threatened today, from womb to end of life. We have forgotten where life begins. It begins in the womb. Whatever we do… we are here to sustain life. That is the gift from God,” Bishop Mulvey said.

During the presentation of the gifts, children from the parish brought to the bishop a number of fruits and vegetables grown in the area. The bishop said, “Each one of those fruits was a seed planted by someone but it was God who made it grow.
It is the same with faith, we can only plant the seed of faith through the Word of God, the Eucharist and the sacraments, but it’s the Lord who makes it grow.”

As the Year of Faith comes to a close, the bishop prays that this seed of faith fall on those who have fallen away from the church and their faith.

After Mass, Bishop Mulvey joined Father Ryszard Zielinski, pastor at Sacred Heart, his parishioners and parishioners from neighboring parishes for a reception at the Parish Hall.