Thank God for the gardeners!

A reflection by Fr Bill Burt SVD

"A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the man who looked after the vineyard, 'Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?' 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it one more year and give me time to dig around it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.' " (Luke 13:6)

In the Scriptures vineyards are often mentioned. A vineyard is, of course, a type of garden. For a number of years now, in SVD writings the image of a garden has been used to describe the place where our mission unfolds. Our confreres, Steve Bevans and Roger Schroeder, have spoken about this concept in their publication, "Entering Someone Else's Garden: Cross-Cultural Mission/Ministry" and elsewhere, and many of us have been fortunate to have heard them personally speak about it. Their writings have been, and continue to be, inspirational, for people passionate about mission. Recently, when I was reading the "Parable of the Barren Figtree", I found myself thinking of the mission/garden image. Then as I sat longer with the parable, my thoughts became focused on the central figure in this particular story: the gardener.

What did he do? He interceded and took responsibility for the figtree, determined to do all in his power to ensure its health and to enable it to bear fruit.

If I let my imagination run a bit wild, I can picture myself as being a figtree in the garden of our mission. And thankfully, like the tree in the parable, I have a gardener who is prepared to intercede on my behalf, to take a certain amount of responsibility for my future, and to do what can be done to ensure my health and help me to bear fruit. Actually, I am blessed because I don't have just one gardener, but many!

Thank God for the gardeners!

During my 45+ years as an SVD, one of the most valuable truths I have learnt is that I am not alone. I am a member of a religious order that values me, that supports me, that helps me to bear fruit. There's absolutely no need for me to think of myself as being a single fighter. The success of the mission does not rest solely on my shoulders. I am part of a team, a team of like-minded men who support each other, who nurture each other. If we can be likened to the figtree we can also be likened to the gardener in the parable. Aren't we actually a team of gardeners, called to intercede in prayer for each other, to nurture and bring out the best in each other?

My fellow SVDs, and fellow religious men & women and clergy, share the gardener role. However, they are not the only gardeners in my world. Any day I can look around and find gardeners who are willing and able to nurture me, "to dig around…and manure..". I am a member of a parish-based community. My parish includes a variety of people including regular Mass-goers, people who strongly identify themselves as Catholic yet only "practice" on special occasions, two school communities of students and staff most of whom have a tenuous link to the Church if any, a women's refuge, an aged-care drop-in centre, a lively Vincent de Paul and an equally vital Legion of Mary, and a fluid young adults group. Ethnically and culturally we are as diverse as any parish in Australia. Among all these are people whom I identify as my personal gardeners. It's unlikely that any of them would actually use this word to describe themselves! But that's how I see them.

Thank God for the gardeners!

The garden that I grow in is within the much bigger garden of the Church and beyond. That big garden is in crisis for the many reasons we are all familiar with. Amazingly, I constantly find people who want to support and nurture me. They can see the mess the garden is in, but they want to be like the gardener in the parable, to support their "figtree pastor", who maybe doesn't always bear wonderful fruit but who should be given the chance and help to do so. May God give me the wisdom to recognise those wonderful people and be receptive to what they offer!

Thank God for the gardeners!