Dear readers, Catholic Online was de-platformed by Shopify for our pro-life beliefs. They shut down our Catholic Online, Catholic Online School, Prayer Candles, and Catholic Online Learning Resources essential faith tools serving over 1.4 million students and millions of families worldwide. Our founders, now in their 70's, just gave their entire life savings to protect this mission. But fewer than 2% of readers donate. If everyone gave just $5, the cost of a coffee, we could rebuild stronger and keep Catholic education free for all. Stand with us in faith. Thank you. Help Now >
The heart's garden is a sacred trust from God
FREE Catholic Classes
"Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world..." John 17:24
Of all the things that made our home special when I was growing up, I think I had the most affection for our backyard.
In spring the forsythia bushes that surrounded our property would begin to bloom in sweet shades of yellow. The crab apple tree quickly followed with delicate pink flowers that snowed on the early green grass when the wind blew.
My father would plant rows of deep colored dahlias below my bedroom window, irises next to the shed because they were his favorite flower, and Scottish heather for my mother. Then there were the peonies, the pansies, the tulips, the blue hydrangeas and the bright red geraniums - a veritable wonderland of color and texture, bees and birds.
And in the middle of it all was the most incredible weeping willow tree beneath whose lithe branches I read and wrote and upon whose demise I cried myself to sleep. I often marveled at the beauty and wondered why God had graced the world with so many different kinds of plants and animals.
As I matured, I came to understand that it was the extravagance of God's love that created it all; a love that never grows tired of gifting the beloved with God's very self; a love that is, at all times, a sacred trust.
Love by its very nature is extravagant, but we poor human beings, so caught up in fear and worry, limit the very love we were created to bring into the world. To offer our very selves to another in love is to place that sacred trust in their hands; hands that may falter, leaving us rejected, ridiculed, abandoned and ashamed. In that very moment of surrendering to love we become vulnerable, our hearts and needs exposed to someone who may not cherish the gift we offer.
And so, we hide our love deep in the well of our hearts and close our hands to the sacred trust of another.
How different is our love from the extravagant Love that created us! God's abiding love is always faithful in spite of our inconstancy, our pride, our fear, our insecurity. For that reason God gave us Christ, God's greatest gift of love. In him we see a man whose human heart spilled over with divine love and suffered greatly because of it. We see the Son of God, his heart wounded with love, lamenting the inconstancy of his beloved people and crying, ". . . how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling!"
And in the end, with love's forgiveness on his lips, our Lord handed himself over and died for an unfaltering love of God and God's children.
In him we learned what it means to hold a sacred trust in our hearts and in our hands.
In him we learned how to plant an extravagant garden of love.
Whether or not there are flowers is up to each of us.
___________________________________________
Mary Regina Morrell is the author of Angels in High Top Sneakers, from Loyola Press.
Contact
Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org
NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562-1990
mmorrell@aol.com
Keywords
trust
More Catholic PRWire
Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716
A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain
Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul
A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell
My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz
Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell
Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online
Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online
Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online
State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online
Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online
2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online
Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online
Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online
Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online
Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online
Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online
Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online
Full Circle
Robert Gieb
Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite
Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony
Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell
World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online
Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA
Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online
A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe
Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly
Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard
The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely
Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow
A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow
Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea
Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard
Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol
Edging God Out
Paul Sposite
Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow
George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online
Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell
Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey
Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite
Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol
Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol
Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online
Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online
Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online
Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online
Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online
Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online
Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol
Come Grow With Us
Sign up and walk the Catholic journey with millions around the world.
Receive inspiring emails on saints, daily readings, and free faith-building resources—no cost, ever.
Sister Sara Has One Message for Every Catholic Family This June
- Easter / Lent
- 5 Lenten Prayers
- Ash Wednesday
- 7 Morning Prayers
- Mysteries of the Rosary
- Litany of the Bl. Virgin Mary
- Popular Saints
- Popular Prayers
- Female Saints
- Saint Feast Days by Month
- Stations of the Cross
- St. Francis of Assisi
- St. Michael the Archangel
- The Apostles' Creed
- Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony
- Pray the Rosary
Copyright 2026 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2026 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.