The Garden of My Heart and its Gardener

Today’s Gospel, Matthew 13: 1-9, relates the parable of the sower.  Jesus says to you and me:

You are like a garden, Dorothy Ann (insert your name).  I plant in your garden every day. What do I plant? Seeds of faith, hope, and love.  Every day I till the soil, opening, softening, watering the soil of your heart.  I pull out weeds, remove rocks, and nurture seedlings. I put a “fence” around your garden to keep out evil. 

Yes, I am the gardener of your heart, Dorothy Ann (insert your name), and the hearts of all.  As I tend to your garden, I tend other gardens as well. I break up hardened, rock-like soil in each garden, including yours.  Thistles and thorns I remove.  The nutrients that each soil needs—and that varies with each person—I possess.  Come to me and I will provide what you need. I  also will teach you how to interact with other“gardens” so fruit abounds.  Do not concern yourself when seeds of love, goodness, and forgiveness which you sow do not yield a rich or even noticeable harvest.  I am the One who gives the growth. I am the One who loosens the soil, waters it and cultivates it in cooperation with each individual. Sow the seeds I give you to sow and leave the results to me.

Thank you, Lord!  Open my eyes to see you at work in my garden and in the garden of others. Help me cooperate with You, as you till my garden. May I plant the seeds you give me to plant and let go of the outcome, trusting and realizing that You are the One who grows the garden!  Give me the wisdom to come to You for the nutrients I need to bear fruit that will last! I ask this in Jesus' name.

Whom Am I Seeking?

“’Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?’ 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.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni,’ which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, ‘Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father…” (John 20: 11-18

 For whom am I looking  as I walk through “the garden” of life today? Am I looking for Jesus? Or, am I looking for myself, for power, for recognition, for dominance, for control, for superiority over others? Onto whom/what am I holding/clutching/clinging?   Am I clinging to my anger, resentments, impatience, mistrust, anxiety, pride? Am I clutching onto my will and ignoring the will of my Father in heaven. In the liturgy of the Mass today when I prayed “Hallowed be thy name; Thy Kingdom come on earth as in heaven,” did those words fall short because what I was really praying was “Hallowed be my name; my will be done on earth, not the Lord’s?

If so, then when I actually do encounter Jesus today, I will not recognize Him. I may not even hear him call me by name.  Lord, I ask for mercy and a transformed heart so that, in truth, it is You I seek, Your Way and Your will that I follow, Your Truth that I embrace and Your Voice to which I listen. I ask for these graces in Your name. Amen!