Welcome to The Harvest 🍇
A blessed Ash Wednesday to you! We are so excited to have you here on The Harvest. As you may already know, the purpose of The Harvest is to showcase the finest fruits of Catholic creators across the web and deliver them in a bite-sized format to you each morning during Lent. But before we dig in, here's a little housekeeping:
What's the point?
The intent of The Harvest is twofold. Firstly, we wanted to give you a break from social media this Lent by hand-picking (harvesting) its fruits straight to your inbox! This was echoed by Pope Francis himself in his recent Lenten address:
[the addiction to digital media] impoverishes human relationships. Lent is a propitious time to resist these temptations and to cultivate instead a more integral form of human communication made up of “authentic encounters", face-to-face and in person.
He even centers the message around Galatians 6:9-10 that through this cultivation of good we may "reap the harvest"! No it wasn't planned, but the Holy Spirit has a way of lining things up 🕊
Secondly, as for the fruits themselves, it is very much at the heart of our mission here at Catholify to empower and elevate those already sowing. Countless creators, influencers, business, ministries, and side-hustlers are so convicted by our Catholic faith that they would put themselves and their works out on an increasingly secular web to spread the Good News. Traditional social media has no interest in ampifying these messages—far from it—but these creators remain undeterred. We are here to grow their voices and give you the chance to discover, share and support their works—that they may spread all the more.
How will this work?
Since we'll be in the season of Lent, the content will be naturally biased towards it. But it is important to note that The Harvest is not a daily Lenten reflection as much as it is a discovery showcase of the fruits of Catholic creators. Expect less write-ups from us (like this one) and more demonstration of the reflections, writings, art, media, prayers, products and services of devout Catholics—even if their fruits aren't specifically faith-based. While this is not intended to be a news and current events publication, we may weave them in as the need arises (especially with everything going on with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine 🙏).
Let us pray
Now that we've covered a few things, on to business. Today is Ash Wednesday and the pope has declared in a particular way that we unite in prayer and fasting as our "weapons of choice" to end the war and violence in the Ukraine. As Padre Pio taught us, the Rosary is the greatest spiritual weapon, so we invite everyone to join in reciting a Rosary for peace today. There's no need to gather at a specific time or a specific place online. Prayer transcends time and space and we are One Body in prayer no matter what 🙏
A little history on ashes…
After the sprinkling, the priest asked, "Art thou content with sackcloth and ashes in testimony of thy penance before the Lord in the day of judgment?" To which the dying person replied, "I am content." In all of these examples, the symbolism of mourning, mortality, and penance is clear.
Enjoy this 3 Minute Read on the history of ashes by Fr. William Saunders
Some inspiration from 'Success Kid'
Lent is a penitential time, but no one ever said we couldn't have fun 😆 We'll do our best to balance prayer, fasting and almsgiving with a little humor.
March 2nd, Saint Agnes of Bohemia
Listen to a great podcast on today's saint by Discerning Hearts
Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Psalm 51
We want to hear from you!
The Harvest isn't just going to be a one-way street. Throughout Lent, we will invite you to write to us for various reasons and we will share some of the responses on future days. For starters, we'd love to know what your Lenten resolutions are by reaching out to us at harvest@catholify.com. If you do not want your submissions publicized or wish to remain anonymous, please specify in the email!
Now go get those ashes and we'll see you tomorrow ✝️ 👋
A.M.D.G.