Man plants, God grants

At today's school Mass, we blessed and thanked the gardeners who have tended our parish grounds over the past three decades.  Months ago, when Father asked me to dedicate a school Mass to recognizing this special group of volunteers, I wondered if a humble school Mass was the best setting for such an important tribute.  As I pondered it, however, I soon came to realize that it would be a perfect opportunity to form our students to live gratefully - which is one of our most important responsibilities as a Catholic school community.  And what better thing than a garden to teach us to pause.  And notice.  And appreciate what God has lovingly, miraculously granted.

One particular part of our landscape has profoundly influenced my own development of a grateful life.  It's those three magnificent trees planted directly in front of the school - just outside the office windows as my luck would have it.  They seem close enough for me to touch at times.  As it turns out, they reach out and touch me every season.

The life of a Catholic school leader is complex and requires extended hours and days inside the school walls.  Hyper-focused on a distracting range of tasks, on a schedule that often starts and ends in darkness, makes me especially vulnerable to missing God's gift of the seasons.  But just when I least expect it, the trees catch my attention, take my breath away, and ground me once again in God's goodness.  Whether it's when the bare branches are traced with snow and ice or exploding with a snowstorm of white blossoms as they did just about a week ago; whether they're covered with lush greenery that attracts songbirds, or transformed by a blanket of warm autumn colors; like silent sentinels, the trees are a powerful reminder that God is always here - right here - watching over me, over your children, over our beloved school.

I know He's here because I'm a gardener, too.  And every gardener knows that we can stick a seedling into the ground.  We can water it and tend it and groom it, but it's God that gives it the transforming miracle of life.  Short of giving birth, I think there is no more powerful way to co-create with God than to plant and tend a garden.

Join me in gratitude for our parish gardens and for the men and women whose hands and backs and love have given them to us.  To encourage the hundred of students and parents who pass through our doors each week to pause and reflect on this gift, we have planted a little plaque near the Jesus and children statue at the southeast corner of the school.  It reads:

St. Robert Parish 

recognizes with gratitude 

the generations of laborers 

who have created and tended these holy grounds. 

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 All for the greater honor and glory of God

Our little sign won't grow into a plant that changes with the seasons, but we hope it will grow generations of grateful people - and perhaps, a future gardener or two.  I hope to one day be among them.

Special thanks to Mrs. Dietz and the fifth graders, Fr. Dennis, and Mrs. Flynn and the kindergarten teachers and students for beautiful words, beautiful roses, and a beautiful song.  And thanks to Ms. Lesjak for organizing all the details - as always!