Reflection by Sister Rita Margraff, GNSH

Written on: July 15, 2026

For Mass on July 12, 2026
in the Medical Mission Sisters Chapel
By Sister Rita Margraff

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Today is the 15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is hard to miss the theme of today’s readings. The Prophet Isaiah tells us that God waters the earth and makes it fertile. The beautiful Responsorial Psalm praises God for preparing the land, drenching its furrows so that the seed will yield a good harvest. And then in the Gospel – albeit a very long one – we read the parable of the sower – a parable quite familiar to us.

When I prayed with these readings, the image of a farmer sowing in his field came to me. And the one farmer that I have met recently is a fictional one, Matthew Cuthbert. He and his sister Marilla, in the Netflix series Anne With an E – adapted from the novel, Anne of Green Gables – adopt an orphan, Anne. Surely, Matthew as a farmer, does plant seeds and reap a harvest.

But the person in the story that I think is the sower of seeds is Anne. Anne is seeking love – she is a very precocious child – very intelligent – very imaginative, but also to her classmates and others a bit of an oddity. As the story progresses, I see Anne sowing seeds of love. Her love and acceptance of others – some seen as very different from her, gradually changes hearts and minds of those in her life. Her classmates warm to her and begin to follow her lead.

Marilla and her busy-body friend find themselves caring for an African-American family and the family’s young baby. Anne befriends a young Native American girl and her family and when they have a great need, warm-hearted Matthew succumbs to Anne’s plea to help them. In the case of Marilla and Matthew, they are going against the very strict norms of those times. There is, of course, much more to the story. It’s not possible to capture it all here, but I encourage you to watch it and see if you see this wonderful quality in Anne that I see.

Anne, for me, emulates the sower in today’s Gospel – sowing seeds of love. We just have to be open to receive that love in our lives – which the characters in Anne with an E do receive, if somewhat reluctantly. And we have God’s assurance in Isaiah that open to grace we can be fertile ground.

I also thought of our Sister Maureen O’Hara – who died peacefully this week. Maureen was a gardener – a sower of seeds. There was nothing that made Maureen happier than to be with the earth – getting her hands dirty. Her vegetables were abundant. Sister Mary Elizabeth posted a picture of Maureen on Facebook with her huge pumpkin – and Maureen with a huge smile on her face. Her love of gardening took her to the Horticultural Society of Philadelphia where she worked in urban gardening – bringing beauty to some of the dingier places in our city – sowing greenery for all to enjoy. I don’t think it was a coincidence that Maureen’s birthday is April 22 – which later became Earth Day. Rest in peace Maureen, in God’s arms and in the garden of Heaven.

Today I ask myself and you – am I, are you, sowing seeds of love? Something to ponder this week.

This is what struck me – what struck you in these readings?

This entry was posted in Matters of Faith and tagged: Anne of Green Gables, Anne With an E, Isaiah 55:10-11, planting seeds, Prophet Isaiah, Psalm 65:10, reaping a harvest, Sister Maureen O'Hara, Sister Rita Margraff