麻豆约拍

Good morning.

It was sacred singing sensation The Priests who introduced me to the hymn Ag Cr铆ost an s铆ol: 鈥楾he seed is Christ鈥檚鈥�.

I thought I鈥檇 come late to some centuries-old Celtic gem

but it turns out its hauntingly simple four verses date to 1916.

听

Immersed in the language and imagery of the land,

Jesus told a number of seed-related parables:

the seed that springs up and grows in ways unknown;

the seed that, though the smallest, becomes a great plant;

and the seed that gives its life, that new life may be multiplied.

With farming such a mainstay of the Irish psyche too,

living off the land and sea could hardly avoid

working itself into our spiritual self-understanding.

We鈥檙e wheat to be stored in God鈥檚 barn, says the hymn 鈥�

fish to be caught in God鈥檚 net.

听

Yet Ag Cr铆ost an s铆ol鈥檚 Biblical source seems more likely to lie

in St Paul鈥檚 resurrection picture from First Corinthians:

the buried seed that rises imperishable.

Because what I only recently learned is that its author Michael Sheehan

originally wrote it as a sympathy poem

for a friend whose twelve-year-old daughter had died.

听

There is sadly no wishing away concern

for all our young people, just at the moment.

So many sudden uncertainties lie over their future:

training options, job prospects, owning a home.

To all of which natural sense of panic,

Ag Cr铆ost an s铆ol offers perspective and assurance:

鈥淔rom birth to youth and from youth till death鈥�, it insists,

鈥測our two hands, O Christ, stretch over us.鈥澨�

Lord we lift before you our under 30鈥檚,

especially those leaving school or college this year.

We pray for new opportunities, and an abiding awareness

that just as the seed and the sheaf belong to you, so do we.

Amen