“Good Soil” Family Farming Project
“Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” (Lk 8:8)
“As for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word,
hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.” (Lk 8:15)
The “Good Soil” Family Farming Project is a project being developed by Ss. Peter and Paul Church, Yuen Long, Hong Kong. It aims to promote spiritual growth and give praise to God in cooperating with His work of creation through farming among Catholic families. The spirit behind this undertaking is the spirit of Saint Francis, who, being a great lover of nature, considered all created things as brothers and sisters that God gave him. In his Canticle of the Creatures he wrote:“Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.”
Can farming be a vocation from God? Saint John XXIII believed so. In in his Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra he wrote:
In the work on the farm the human personality finds every incentive for self-expression, self-development and spiritual growth. It is a work, therefore, which should be thought of as a vocation, a God-given mission, an answer to God’s call to actuate His providential, saving plan in history. It should be thought of, finally, as a noble task, undertaken with a view to raising oneself and others to a higher degree of civilization.
Goals of the project:
- To foster mutual knowledge, support and cooperation among Catholic families.
- To cultivate communion between parents and children, as they work in a joint adventure.
- To enrich the education of children and youth through farming, promoting the development of human and Christian habits and values which are normally associated with the working of the land.
Patron Saint of the project: Saint Isidore the Farmer
Name of the farm: Sacred Heart Garden