My first attempts at gardening were pitiful; I did not know where to start, therefore I did not like it, and I put it off as long as I could. Consequently, by the time I walked outside, armed with the wrong tools for the job at hand, the sight of my neglected yard was overwhelming. After ten minutes of half-hearted attempts at whatever I was doing, I gave up in discouragement and went back into the house.

But, I love flowers, and trees, and quiet, so I kept up my puny efforts. Eventually, with the help of family and friends, I began to learn a few tricks, and now going out and grubbing in the dirt is enjoyable; watching flowers bloom and multiply is a joy.

Then one day, while happily watching the pillows of fluorescent yellow ice plant spreading through the mulch, the light bulb turned on: “No wonder Jesus explained the things of His Father using farming examples!” Everyone who has ever tried to make good things grow would understand His meaning.

For instance, the other day, after a heavy rain, I decided that it was a good time to dig up dandelions. The ground was soft, and it was easy to uproot those rascals. In no time, the wheel barrow was full and the lawn was empty. All nice and smooth. What a great feeling! Just like after a good Confession.

But, a few days later, while mowing the lawn, I noticed that my neighbors’ yards had bumper crops of dandelions, their seed heads ready to blast off like rockets in every direction at the slightest breeze. “Just as I cleaned up mine,” I sighed, “better keep my eyes open for new, uninvited guests.” So now I carry my digging tool during my daily yard-patrol. It’s a lot easier, and more enjoyable, to dig up a few weeds while counting how many California poppy seeds sprouted and admiring the latest rose bud, rather than letting trouble multiply! If I let it go that far, then the task of weeding would become discouraging.

Aren’t the uninvited weeds like all the temptations that come at us from all directions? We can’t avoid them, of course, because we live in the world and sin is everywhere, and if we are not watchful, we’ll soon find ourselves giving in to temptation, with our souls filled with sin all over again. But if we make an examination of conscience every evening, before we go to sleep, we learn to recognize the signs and we can pluck them out of our soul before we get in trouble.

Then there are the bigger challenges. For instance, there is one corner of my back yard that makes me want to throw up my hands in surrender. Next to my fence, one neighbor has a “tree of paradise” (HAH!); one has a choke cherry bush (good name!) and the other some lilac bushes. All three delight in throwing out runners in all directions (under the fence!) and, by the time I see the new growth, I have to back track, pulling up sod, gravel and whatever it is that covers those stubborn roots. One day, in despair, I called up a friend and said: “Could you please come and help me with this? I can’t do it all by myself!” With two of us working together, we took care of the problem in less than one hour.

Then I thought: “Isn’t it the same with really bad habits? We don’t want them, we wish to get rid of them, but they are so much a part of us that we keep failing. It’s so depressing.” That’s why God gave us companions in our walk toward Heaven: to help us when we can’t do it alone.

Then, the other day I was talking with another friend who is a much better gardener than I am. As we often do, we started talking about our flowers and trees. She commented: “Have you noticed how hard it is to get the flowers you want to grow where you want them?” Of course it is! All of us want to be good, we want to be patient, kind, humble, wise, loving, forgiving, generous and, especially, holy. But virtue is hard work. Even when we have prepared the soil of our soul with prayer, the Sacraments, and regular Confession, it seems that our spiritual growth takes forever. Have you ever watched the impatience of kids who have planted some seeds? They can’t wait, and we need to remind them: “Be patient, it takes time for the seed to sprout, get strong and then grow.” Well, aren’t’ we like them when it comes to our spiritual progress? Many are the times that I have heard folks say: “What’s the use of going to Confession? I’m going to do it all over again, I can’t seem to get better.”

I thought so too, for the longest time, but now I’m old enough that I can look back twenty, thirty, and more years, and I do see the progress. I’m far from perfect, but when I was young I was a real terror! Yes, the garden of my soul has a long way to go, but I’ve learned a few tricks. I’m always on patrol, I spot the weeds as they sprout and, if some bad habits are more stubborn than others, I ask for help. Finally, after all these years, I can see some seeds sprouting. I sure hope that, when the Lord finally comes looking at my garden, He’ll find a few flowers!