Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,
The threat of cold weather and frost had  me scurrying around to bring in some tender plants and put them to bed for the winter. This year, for the most part, we had great weather for gardening. I had many beautiful plants blooming their hearts out. But all good things must come to an end, and now it is time to face the quiet colder, darker days that are approaching all too quickly.
I have always loved to plant flowers and watch them grow and bloom, or even just grow and just by being there, beautify the garden. I like to think that because God created Adam and Even and placed them in a beautiful garden called Eden, that we all have a longing to walk with God in the garden. Once Adam and Eve fell from grace and disobeyed God, they were forced to leave the beauty of Eden. Ever since then, man has tried to find his way back to paradise.
We were created for the beauty of Eden, so maybe that is why I find such contentment in growing beautiful and unusual plants. It is often in seeing the beauty of the garden that I feel close to God, Who created these beautiful things.
Even in the pests and weeds of the garden, it helps me to understand how temptation and sin invade the beauty and tranquility of our lives to cause us distress and create havoc.
I am often surprised at how I can lavish care and attention on a rare and beautiful plant providing it with everything that it should need to thrive, only to have it wither and die. Whereas if I plant a common, hardy, almost-weed of a plant, it often becomes the star performer in the garden.
It is also a lesson to me how many of the most beautiful plants in my garden, that can be so beautiful with large, showy flowers, are also the most poisonous if their sap or leaves or fruit touch one, or are accidentally ingested.
Now, as we come to the end of the growing season, the plants teach me lessons about the seasons of life. There is a time for planting, a time for growing, a time to flourish and bloom, and then a time to rest at the end of the day and to prepare for the next stage of life.
As the autumn days begin, may we look upon the blessings of this past, very strange summer. May we give thanks and praise to God for all the beauty he has created, and may we look forward to walking again in the garden with our God.
Msgr. Cox