[Based upon the reflection of Rev. Paul Scalia in “That Nothing May be Lost.”
In the last line of the Passion Narrative, Saint John mentions that the tomb of Jesus was in a garden. At first, this seems just a quaint addition, but upon some reflection, we could say that salvation history might be called, a story of gardens. And so, it is appropriate that at Easter, we adorn our churches as if they were gardens. In a garden we find order, beauty, and life. A garden is not wild. It is cultivated, it has boundaries and a specific design. A garden is also beautiful; everything about it is pleasing to the eye. A garden is also, of course, a place of life where plants grow and bear fruit.
Order, beauty, and life—these are what God desired for us in the first garden, the Garden of Eden. There was order and harmony in God’s creation and in humanity’s relationship with God. Beauty was found in the souls of Adam and Eve. There, the Lord also bestowed life—unending life with God. But these good and great things were lost through sin. The most tragic consequence is that sin brought death into the world—death replaced life.
Yet, despite our sin, in love for us, God began a restoration, the work of redemption in a second garden—the Garden of Gethsemane where he would undo the rebellion of the Garden of Eden. There Jesus took upon himself all the disorder, ugliness, and the death that sin brought into the world and he bore them to the cross.
God’s work continued in a third garden—the garden of his tomb—or better still, the Garden of his Resurrection. There he rose triumphant from the dead. I think that it is interesting that when Mary Magdalen first sees the Risen Lord, she mistakes him for the gardener. In a certain sense, he is. He is the divine Gardener, who restores to us order, beauty, and life.
But this is not the end because the Lord completes his work in a fourth garden—the garden of our soul. When we open the gate of that garden, he enters our souls with his grace and works there to bring order—to heal the conflicts we experience; to bring beauty by ridding us of the ugliness of sin and brings life so that we might live in newness of life. Despair turns to hope. Death is conquered and life is restored. He brings mourners the joy of knowing that death is not the last word.
Today the Risen Savior, the Divine Gardener desires to continue his work in the lives of the baptized. It is the day we renew our baptismal promises! Let us do so now. Let us open the gate of the garden of our souls, so that the order, beauty, and life that Christ brings will allow us to “appear with him in glory.” Amen! Alleluia!
