Hello Gardeners

Jul 18

This Sunday will be the second Sunday in a row that Jesus uses imagery from the garden to explain the Kingdom of God. Last week, we heard of the generosity of the gardener who extravagantly spread the seed, the Word of God, on the solid ground of a footpath where the birds ate it, on rocky ground where it withered in the heat of the sun, or when it fell among the thorns that choked the new plants. Jesus, of course, pointed to the seed that fell on fertile ground and produced much fruit.

Revisiting the theme of the weeds, this Sunday we hear that "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat and then went off.”

Every gardener knows that the beautiful flowers or plentiful harvests are all gifts from God, but every gardener also knows that there is a lot of work to be done in order to make sure the flowers bloom or the harvest is rich. It doesn’t take long for an unattended garden to soon be overrun by those persistent and pervasive weeds.

Now I could go on speaking of the spirituality of these metaphors because they are almost as plentiful as zucchinis in July, but today I would like to address something much more practical.

Over the past few years, we have been able to freshen up the gardens around our four churches and center as well as install irrigations systems to ensure that the plants are well watered. But as with all gardens, they do need to be tended. At times, pruning is needed and sometimes dead plants need to be replaced but always weeds need to be pulled.

We have a few parishioners with very generous hearts that have tended to our grounds; however, we need a few more. Quite honestly, the cost would be prohibitive if we were to hire a company to regularly attend to the gardens around our buildings.

Next Thursday, July 23rd, at 10:00 AM we will hold a meeting in the Senior Lounge to discuss how we can best go forward with the care for the gardens around St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Beach Haven, St. Francis of Assisi Church and Center in Brant Beach, St. Thomas of Villanova in Surf City, and St. Clare of Assisi in Loveladies.

You don’t have to have a green thumb, only a desire to help keep our church grounds beautiful. If you cannot attend the meeting on Thursday but would like to help, please call the parish office to let us know and someone will get back to you.

May God continue to bless all of us with Peace and All Good and may our gardens continue to flourish.