As we round up September and the meager harvest of my garden I am reminded of when Mary Magdalen was weeping at Jesus’ tomb. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”^h She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him” John 20 v 15

I was always perplexed as to why Mary Magdalene would assume Jesus was a gardener.  Some theologians surmise that gardeners of that time wore white and as Jesus was wearing white, she made the logical conclusion. Others say it’s because He is the new Adam.  When I moved to my house, I learned to look for Jesus in the garden.  So many lessons can be found if we take the time to look.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Want to grow- you need to prune.  I would often look at my neighbor’s abundant flower baskets and wonder why mine looked skimpy compared to hers. When I asked her, I heard the opposite of what I expected.  If you want to grow first cut, cut, cut!  Her secret was to cut back the dead flowers – this encouraged the flowers to grow more.  I thought of how in my life I start to grow messy and out of sorts and then feel overwhelmed – that’s the time to sit back and think what isn’t growing or producing fruit in my life? What do I need to cut back? While this can sometimes be a painful process, I can say that when I have done it in my life- entrusting the shears to Jesus my gentle gardener- it has helped me to grow in other areas.

I am the vine you are the branches” john 15v5. This image came to life for me this summer when I watched my cucumbers grow.  Cucumbers grow on a vine, and you guessed it there are branches involved.  I noticed something very curious when I took a good look.  The vine keeps going, it puts out branches which are tiny tendrils that wrap around any given object (fence, stake) and take hold.  Where the branches take hold, the vine produces fruit.  As I sat there, I realized what Jesus meant- He is the vine- the vine keeps going, it keeps growing and giving life, but the job of the branches (there’s never just one) is to hold an area for the vine, and there allow the vine to produce fruit. That’s us! As Christians we are called to disciple the world, to hold our ground- to stand firm so that God can produce fruit through us. This is how we do it- by remaining connected to Him. Where am I to do this? Everywhere- St Peter says always be prepared to give a reason for your faith. Where is God calling you to spread out, where does He desire to grow fruit through you? How is He asking you to feed His church?  Not just in the parish, at work, at home, in the gym all of these are places that we can stand firm in our faith and let God be God.

There was a time in my life I was in so much pain that I just wanted to give up.  Life wasn’t meant to be so difficult.  What helped me get through was a parable from Luke 13 6-9.  Here the owner of the garden comes in search of fruit- finding none he tells the gardener to take down the tree. I love what the gardener suggests- “Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it” Sometimes we need to cultivate the soil we are planted in and give it nourishment.  I stopped watching tv all day and doing mindless things that filled my time but left me empty. I started to fill my days spending time with my gardener- His words and love were able to help me take my mind off my sad state and focus on what was truly important.  This is what got me through. Knowing that He was tending to me- That His word was nourishing me. I went to daily Mass, Adoration, I played Christian music all the time and listened to uplifting preachings on YouTube until I was strong enough to produce fruit again.  We need to fertilize the soil we are in- what surrounds us? What are we feeding our spirit? What we plant is what we grow.

As October starts and many gardens are being put to bed for the fall, know that our Gardener never sleeps- He is always at work, breaking down the unused and bringing life to it preparing for your next harvest.