Daily Meditation for February 7, 2025

What do we do in the Upper Midwest when spring fever hits in February? We look at our backyard garden or across the frozen fields and know it will be months before we can work up the soil and begin planting. Itching to hasten the warmer days, we might be praying for an early spring. But the more productive prayer would be to turn to the spiritual landscape. Planted deep within our hearts are the fruits of the Holy Spirit of which St. Paul writes: love, joy, and peace; patience, kindness, and goodness; faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). What abundance we hold! But it takes attention and careful tending for this rich garden to bear fruit. Day by day, tend to one of these spiritual fruits, asking God to give you the grace to nourish and cultivate it, to share it with friend and stranger alike. The warmth of spring will surely burst forth—a fever of love straight from the heart of God.

By Mary Stommes, OblSB