Agony in the Garden

WEEDING.

If you have a garden, it must be done. It isn’t much fun to do, people usually put it off way to long, and then they dread having to spend ALL day (or two or three) outside working to restore their once beautiful garden. I’ve had my fair share of weeding time this summer, so I speak from personal experience.

Weeding is necessary because it allows the plants who were chosen to be in the garden to grow and flourish. It eliminates the competition. Allowing the plants to have full access to the nutrients they need to live. If one does not weed a garden, the weeds choke, bind, and overgrow the plants that are supposed to be in the garden. The plants will then either stop growing or die all together, neither of which is what the gardener intended.

Similarly, as Catholics we need to remember to weed the garden of our souls. Confession is a powerful Sacrament, by which our gardens are beautified once again. Through confession, we eliminate the competition for our love. All sins and idols are removed; we are released from their grasp. God frees us so that we may now live, totally and completely for Him. Giving Him all of our love, and using of all the gifts He bestowed on us to further His kingdom. If we choose not to go to confession, we are allowing ourselves to be held captive and choked by the weeds that have entered our garden.

Weeding is not always easy, the ground can be dry and hard or it could be super soft from rain. When the ground is hard and dry, it is easy to simply pull the tops off of the weeds. You can no longer see anything sticking out of the ground, so the problem has been eliminated right? Well, not quite. Your garden may look good for a few days or weeks but come back a month later and it is all over grown again! Talk about frustrating!! However, if you put in the extra work and time to dig down a little bit and discover the root of the weed, you can pull the whole thing up! And with the whole weed pulled up, your garden will flourish greatly!

Similarly, it is difficult at times to get yourself to confession. Why go? I’ve told God that I am sorry, and I truly am, so why do I need to go to confession? Why, because through the Sacrament of confession God pours grace upon grace on your garden. He gives you to tools needed to get down to the root of the weeds, and the strength to pull them up. With God’s grace moistening your garden, and the proper tools in hand, it will be much easier to remove the next weeds that spring up in your garden.

The longer you wait, the harder your ground becomes. So don’t put off weeding your garden!

Allow God to rain His graces upon you to beautify your soul once again!!