“As he said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about the importance of leading a fruitful, productive spiritual life. He tells His apostles that the seeds that fall on rich soil are the people who, “when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.”

Good seed planted in rich, well-watered soil may produce a healthy crop, but not necessarily one that will bear much fruit. Many plants must also be pollinated, chiefly by honeybees. In this country alone, bees pollinate more than $14 billion in seed crops a year. Almonds, apples, blueberries, peaches and oranges are all highly dependent on honeybees.

Every third bite we consume in our American diet is a gift of the honeybee. We can learn something about spiritual growth from these little visitors to our gardens.

The first lesson of the honeybee is that sometimes the very things that bug us, poke us, prod us, distract and annoy us are the very things that help us to grow stronger and bear fruit.

If we’re as open as a flower to what the honey bee has to teach us, these experiences can help us grow spiritually. We’ll change for the better. And we’ll learn to share the fruits of our spiritual growth with others.

The second lesson of the honeybee is that we all need one another to reach our full spiritual potential. In a beehive, each bee has a specific role to play; they rely on one another.

None of us can bear fruit on our own. We each need what the others have to offer. Some of us are colorful annuals; others are hardy perennials; some are fruits; others are herbs and vegetables. But we all have something special to share.

There are over 5,000 species of bees. But there are countless thousands of ways to lead a fruitful spirit-filled life. We simply have to be open to sharing what we have so freely received.