The hum of a honey bee invokes a sense of joyful delight in a gardener. The bee’s determination to collect a flower’s nectar reflects our dedication to the cultivation of plant life and invokes a sense of gratitude toward the hive.
A bee hive is a superorganism, made up of thousands of individuals, not unlike our church family. The hive cannot exist without its members and the individuals cannot survive without the hive. Our church is our hive. St. Paul tells us in Corinthians 12:12-14: Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body.
The bee and the garden can gently remind us of our interconnection with the church community and to act like the bee. Share your extra produce with a neighbor, attend a seed swap, cultivate a community garden that strengthens your body, and attend mass to strengthen your soul.