Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum

Jack and the Beanstalk is the tale of a young boy who trades his mother’s milk cow to an old man for magic beans.  His mother, angry at the foolish trade, throws the beans to the ground, and sends Jack to bed.  The beans grow into a gigantic beanstalk overnight; Jack climbs the stalk high into the sky; at three different time he steals from a giant a bag of gold coins, a goose that laid golden eggs, and a harp; and he escapes down the stalk and chops it down with the giant falling to his death.  The giant is best remembered for his: “Fee-fi-fo-fum!  I smell the blood of an Englishman.  Be he alive, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread.” 

All that drama and excitement caused by some bean seeds!  And, why not?  Seeds of any kind are nothing less than miracles contained in very tiny containers awaiting transformation into roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and so much more, such as fruits and vegetables on which we all depend.

Seeds and what they produce (such as fruitful harvests and grain for bread) are prominent in our first reading from Isaiah (seed to sow), the Responsorial Psalm (seeds sowed on good ground), the second reading from Romans (Spirit’s firstfruits), and the Gospel according to Matthew (seeds on paths, rocky ground, among thorns, and on rich soil).  

We all came for the “seeds” of our mothers and fathers with fertilization creating us first as balls of cells, then embryos, and finally as fetuses.  We transform from the union of two cells (egg and sperm) to multicellular creatures with organ systems and consciousness.   Unlike any other creature, we know who we are and what we can be by making choices between good and evil (such as slavery and corruption, according to Paul).   Such is the gift of free will.

We’re not magic seeds capable of becoming gigantic overnight through good works.  We gain in  size and strength through daily, fruitful acts on behalf of others – sort of like the giant’s goose fruitfully laying golden eggs. 

We also gain in size and strength through the Eucharist.   When we receive, we become “giants” of a sort saying, “Fee-fi-fo-fum!  We drink the blood of a Jewish man.  He is alive; he isn’t dead.  From his body, he has made our bread.”   

Deacon David Pierce