A Garden Is for Growing

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I grew up surrounded by families and friends who had converted the better part of their backyards into vegetable gardens. My grandfather, in particular, who had immigrated from Europe, oh so long ago, had made a third of his backyard into a garden. I can remember as a child helping him plant the potatoes, tomatoes, beans and corn, while he continued with the cabbages, peppers, onions and garlic as I had gone in to have ice cream. My grandfather being Catholic, always prayed over his seeded garden, trusting in our good Lord to help the crops grow that particular season, and he let the garden do its thing- to grow and supply us with  "the best vegetables anywhere", as my grandpa would say. 

Each passing day my grandfather would sit outside on his green plastic rocking chair and watch the garden grow. He would sit back, watch the birds go by and scare them away if they got too close to the garden. He tended to the garden, pulling each weed out, and ensuring there was enough water. He would trim the branches of plants gone astray or not doing well, and he would take breaks between it all. He cared for his large garden, and we all knew it.  His winters were just times he was forced breaks from growing the biggest tomatoes, or the sweetest of corn,   and the summer months, we knew he would always be in the back, looking after it. 

My grandfather doesn't garden anymore, as he now has too many health restrictions in his later years, but to this day he continues to wish and yearn to have his garden again, despite his limitations. 

In Matthew  13: 24-30, Jesus tells us the parable of the weeds. The classic line of allowing the weeds and wheat to grow together (something my grandpa would advise strongly against!) so as not to uproot the wheat from the harvest. The parable goes that at harvest time, the weeds and the wheat will be sorted, with the weeds being burnt and the wheat brought into the barn. 

A classic parable about the parousia and the end that awaits us who are good and bad. Common sermons will focus on the weeds we have to pluck from our lives, which is an important focus. 

However, something that I don't think gets noted enough about the parable is that gardens are for growing and growing good things. So it's not only about looking at our lives to see the sin and weeds in ourselves but also about growing the good seeds that God is working within us.¹ The important thing about this gospel, and what a great background of gardening means is that gardens require action. They require work to grow. Sure lots of the growth happens automatically, but there's nothing automatic unless we work to perfect the conditions for optimal growth. 

A reflective point for each of us to look at the garden of our lives and examine: what is God trying to grow within me- what good seed am I ignoring, or hiding among the weeds of my life? Which plants am I rejecting because I think it's impossible, it's not what I want or because I have gone astray? 

It would be a giant weed in our lives to ignore the working of the seeds that God has planted in our lives. Where is God calling us to grow? Where is he calling me to become more like his son,  to do more, or to help others? 

While praying this parable over, which happened to be this past weekend's Gospel reading,  I was getting drawn to the thought of my grandpa, whose memory makes it come alive for me. It made me aware once again that any good garden, is entrusted to the Lord and requires the cooperation, the work, and the patience of the gardener. A good garden requires us to pluck out the weeds - to burn the sins out of our life-  but to also water the garden, add some fertilizer,  prune when needed, give it a rest, and a special prayer too. 

Let's sit with this parable to allow it to be a moment of reflection on the garden of our souls, to cooperate with God and all that he is calling us to each and every day. This parable calls us to be growers of good vegetables and we must ask ourselves each day if that is truly what we are accomplishing or if we are only focusing on plucking the weeds. 

Mike

¹ Creditforf the larger idea is due to the reflection found on the Laudate App, written and contributed by the website   Regnum Christ  for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time.