How Does Your Garden Grow?
5th Sunday Of Easter, B
2009-05-10
John 15:1-8One of the houses I grew up in was situated on a cove. Now, I don’t know how many of you ever lived on a cove, but doing so could be cool – or could be a drag – depending on what you were talking about.
You want to ride bikes or hang out with friends? A cove is cool. You want to have a lemonade stand? A cove is a drag. You have to mow the lawn? Well, the front yard is small, so the cove is cool. You have to mow the back yard? What a drag! Because the back yard of a cove house is HUGE! And it’s usually not square with straight rows that are easy to mow. In fact, our yard had a long “pointy” corner that was good for nothing but a mowing headache.
One year, though, we got a reprieve from the mowing of that God-forsaken corner of our yard. My mother announced to our family, that we would be planting a garden.
Yes, it was the 70’s and all our friends were planting vegetable gardens and saving “tons” of money by producing bushels of fresh fruits and vegetables. And all of the excess they took on weekends to the farmers market and sold.
Oh, the taste of juicy, red-ripe summer tomatoes, the snap of fresh green beans, and the feeling of the golden butter running down your chin as you bit into a plump and crispy ear of corn.
Well, at least it sounded good on the packages of seeds. In reality though, I think I can still hear my dad’s labored “sigh” when mom told us we would become gardeners.
You see, up until now, the extent of our gardening had been “planting” the cut, washed and neatly wrapped produce into our supermarket basket.
I’ll not make a long story any longer. That year, we managed to grow one thing really well: dirt.
We did, however, get a few puny cucumbers, a couple dozen wrinkly tomatoes and some strange leafy green plant that tasted OK if you boiled it all day and dumped a ton of butter and salt in it. I still say it was weeds, but mom denies it to this day.
As I look back, I think I know what the problem was. We weren’t good gardeners. We did everything wrong. Apparently, there’s labor involved.
You’ve got to till, turn and work the soil, mix in nutrients, plant the seeds, provide ample water and sunlight, and you have to pull the weeds.
You can’t just drop the seeds and come back a few months later and start eating.
No, we didn’t take care of our garden. You’ve heard the expression, “The fruits of our labor?” Well, we found out that summer, “No labor, no fruit!”
Thank God for Kroger.
Today’s Gospel reading is also talking about gardening. Jesus makes references to growing, to pruning and bearing fruit. Jesus must have loved to work in the garden – or at least He knew His disciples would understand the metaphor – because He frequently refers to sowing seeds, planting, harvesting and threshing all through Sacred Scripture.
But, as you probably already realize, He’s not talking about actual gardening, but “spiritual” gardening. You see, God has given each of us a nice plot of land to care for…we each have a garden that starts with a bed of rich, fertile soil, ready for planting.
However, we can’t just leave it alone. Just like my own sad gardening experience taught me, if we fail to labor in the field, we will bear no fruit. We have to work at it!
And, the beauty of it is that God gives us everything that we need to become great gardeners. As Christians – and, especially as Catholics – we can bear much fruit!
We just need to work the soil with our hands, our minds and our hearts – all the gardening tools God gave us – as we labor to help others who are less fortunate.
We need to add the nutrients of prayer, fasting and almsgiving to provide a rich and fertile home for the roots of our produce, so that our vines, branches, leaves and plants grow strong and are not easily toppled by wind or eaten away by pestilence.
We need to plant the seeds of faith, hope and love in our garden by truly opening ourselves to God’s Revelation in Scared Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the Church.
We need to let the soothing, salvific waters of our Baptism flow abundantly over our crop.
We also need the Son (no, not the s-u-n, but,
the S-O-N, the Son of God) to feed and nourish our garden with the ultimate gift of His Body and Blood, proof of His eternal and unlimited love for us.
And, we must pull the weeds; the weeds of doubt, hatred, indifference and wickedness as we protect our gardens from the Evil One by avoiding the near occasion of sin, and by making use of the Sacraments, especially frequent Confession.
You know, if you think about it, that’s why you’re here today – sitting in this Church. You’re here to take care of your spiritual garden. You aren’t just in a Church, you are in a Holy Garden Store!
You see, every time you attend Holy Mass, receive the graces of the Eucharist, offer a Rosary to Our Lady, dip your hands in the holy water font, seek the healing of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, smell the incense and hear the Word of God proclaimed, you are caring for your garden, allowing the largest, plumpest, juiciest fruits to grow abundantly.
Joy. Happiness. Love. Fulfillment. Purpose.
A rewarding job. A loving spouse. Great kids. Supportive family and friends. A life of peace and harmony.
These are the fruits Jesus is talking about. This is what God has in store for those who tend their gardens well.
So, if you’re missing any of these things, perhaps your garden needs a little help. Perhaps you haven’t been following all the instructions on the package of seeds (also known as Church teaching.) And, believe it or not, we have LOTS of Catholics who don’t follow all the instructions, who don’t follow all that the Church teaches. Trust me, I know. I was one of them!
But, thanks be to God, we’re in the right place. So, start shopping. It’s all free, and anyone can do it.
And, don’t worry, there’s never been a plot of spiritual soil that God couldn’t save.
So, what do you need? Take the time to examine yourself. How does YOUR garden grow?