22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

On the other side of the wall behind me is what we call our Zen garden. It is enclosed by buildings. Over the years it has undergone some pretty significant transformations and upgrades under its various guardians. I’m told Br. Louis cut the roof off our backhoe at the time so it would fit through the double doors on the north side. Fr. Isaac really left his mark during his term of being in charge of it. And now Fr. John Vianney continues to make it look very beautiful and soothing. It’s sort of a fishbowl as many of our windows, like our refectory, look out on it. In the last week or two the members of our novitiate have been spending time tidying it up, pulling weeds, putting down mulch, and other maintenance-type stuff. There’s an oval area at the highest spot where we removed two spruce trees that were sick and planted a magnolia. I was assigned to work with our three guys in formation as we dug out the stump of one of the spruce trees and put the magnolia in the same spot. It was fun as we all worked so well together. 

That same oval space mainly features Periwinkle as a groundcover but it also has some other things poking through, like Hosta plants and ferns. Along with the plants that are supposed to be there are other ones that aren’t supposed to be. The squirrels have planted acorns and black walnuts. Those little seedlings might be good somewhere else, but not here. There’s plenty of dandelions and Morning Glory and lawn grass making their presence felt. The Zen garden is high maintenance and as our community has shrunk, Fr. John Vianney has had much bigger fish to fry. So, getting rid of the plants that shouldn’t be there will most likely fall to one of our new guys. In case he doesn’t have a background in gardening, he’ll probably need some instructions on which plants stay and which ones go. And those instructions are the image I would like to use to demonstrate what I think is a main point in our readings today.

Some people gripe about all the rules in the Catholic Church. They want to be able to pick and choose. They feel all the rules inhibit their freedom and keep them from becoming mature adults. They see rules and guidelines as something negative. Similarly, monastic life has many further rules and guidelines. For someone who is a free spirit it may feel somewhat smothering, but the rules are a helpful tool for what to leave in and what to leave out. 

Let’s change the image a little bit and say that our monastery had a vegetable garden. At the beginning of the season you plant good seeds. But after some time a lot of other plants appear besides those good seeds you planted. There are the ever-present weeds that do so well in garden soil. But there might also be some volunteer plants from previous years. We can’t have a pumpkin plant growing where we’ve laid out the carrots and Swiss chard. Now, say a novice was assigned to pull weeds in our vegetable garden and he wasn’t very experienced at differentiating one plant from another. He would have to be given some instructions about what was beneficial and what wasn’t. Even some of the good plants, like the beets, would need to be thinned in order to get decent sized produce. Those instructions given to the novice don’t hamper him – they help him. They’re not arbitrary; they come from experience and wisdom gained from making mistakes. 

Sometimes the novices are assigned to assemble furniture Fr. John Vianney ordered from Amazon. The instructions for assembling are there for our benefit. Reading them can save a lot of time. Similarly, others of us are called sometimes to fix an appliance or a piece of machinery or a vehicle. It’s great to have the schematic drawings and diagrams to see how things fit together and operate. When Br. Alberic and Br. James were running the farm, they had shop manuals for all the tractors and other equipment. Those instructions for doing a specific repair are very helpful for someone who doesn’t do it every day. 

I guess you could see our lives as a garden where we cultivate and nurture the virtues and progressively weed out the vices. It’s good to know which is which because sometimes something harmful will masquerade as something helpful. Or, it might be harmless enough in itself, but not a good idea in this particular situation. The Church has many centuries of experience to draw on in advising us what to do and what not to do. We believe, too, that she is being guided by the Holy Spirit when she makes her laws and decrees. 

Our gospel reading this morning had a list of weeds to pull out: “. . . evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.” Like those garden weeds, they can grow so prolifically if we don’t nip them in the bud. Left unchecked, they can crowd out the virtues we were meant to exemplify. We’re reading in our refectory a recent book on generations. Baby Boomers, in general, threw out a lot of the mores of previous generations. There was the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s. We were anti-authority. Lots of drugs and alcohol were encouraged. All these things were seen as breaking free of repressive rules and developing our freedom. But, in many cases, those very things we saw as desirable ended up enslaving us. Is a life without discipline really free? The book goes on to point out that the rate of depression and suicide among Boomers is way higher than previous generations. Could there be a connection?

In our first reading, Moses, when giving the law to the Israelites said, 

Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live . . . . In your observance of the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I enjoin on you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations. 

And in a similar vein, our second reading continues the theme, even using the word “planted” like the image of our vegetable garden: “He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Humbly welcome the word that was planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.” Notice how St. James writes, “HUMBLY welcome the word.” And our gospel listed arrogance as one of the things to weed out. Isn’t it arrogant to think we know more than the Church’s rules and put ourselves above her wisdom? Similarly, aren’t our monastic rules and customs there to help us find the most conducive way to grow in the spiritual life? Who am I to think I’m wiser than St. Benedict or St. Basil or St. Pachomius or St. Bernard?

Brothers and sisters, we all need instructions and guidelines in the decisions we make every day. May the Good Lord help us not to rely only on our own resources.