St. Vincent first-graders learn economic sense

Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2023

Donna Masek

Special to the Intermountain Catholic

After the long winter months of Utah, spring brings hope of new life with its expanding daylight, the return of chirping feathered friends, and shrubs bearing a hue of green as a forerunner of their summer foliage. As temperatures slowly climb, the call of the outdoors encourages many a gardener to pull out tools and begin planting the first annuals.

We Catholics are encouraged to continue to beautify the environment by planting a Mary Garden. It can be as simple as a patio planter, or as extensive as an outdoor area. Nestling an image of Our Lady among the flower petals and greenery creates an ideal reminder to stop and pray for peace in the world and the salvation of souls. (For information, visit https://udayton.edu/marianlibrary/marysgardens/index.php)

The array of colors that scented blossoms bequeath to one’s eyes have been enjoyed by many itinerant missionaries. Before the onset of modern transportation, these missionaries often occurred on foot as they traversed pathways and mountain valleys in the quest of bringing the Gospel message to others. To pass the time, it is said that these holy souls named various trees and flowers to remind them of spiritual realities, particularly those of Our Lady. For example, the impatiens became a symbol of her maternal love, and the cornflower was a representation of her crown.  

St. Maximilian Kolbe continued the quest of bringing souls to Christ through the intercession of his Immaculate Mother in his own extensive travel ventures. After establishing the Niepokalanow friary in Poland in 1927, he traveled to Japan in 1930 and was granted permission to initiate a second friary. Perhaps because of its location near Mount Hikosan, he gave it the name Mugenzai no Sono, or Garden of the Immaculata. Christianity would be fertilized in the Land of the Rising Sun through its initiatives. (For information, visit https://catholicmagazine.news/marys-garden-which-nothing-could-destroy/)

As the liturgical season of Easter continues, the blossom of new graces watered through the sufferings of Christ have sprouted the hope of the resurrection for all. St. Maximilian Kolbe understood that uniting one’s will with that of God creates sanctity. 

It is this Easter wish that he shared with his beloved mother, and continues to share with us all, through this prayer: 

Dearest Mother,

Today, Easter Sunday, even though because of distance I can’t share with you the traditional blessed egg. …. I can at least send you my wishes. I don’t want to wish you health, nor success. Why? Because I want to wish you something even more beautiful, something so good that no one, not even God himself, could wish you more. Therefore, I wish that in you, Mother, the will of God, who is the best of all fathers, be totally fulfilled, and that you may fulfill his will in everything.