. The Flowers of Knock: What They Teach Us About Birth, Death, and New Life
For Everything, There Is a Season: A Lesson from the Gardens of Knock “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: A time to plant and a time to pull up what is planted. A time to grow and a time to die.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 I have been watching the flowers at Knock Shrine this year.
A few months ago, I watched them being planted. Small, fragile hands of colour being placed carefully into the cold earth around the grounds. There was hope in that work. A quiet promise that something beautiful was coming.
Then, in the height of summer, that promise was kept. The grounds were alive. In full bloom, vibrant and full of life, they welcomed thousands of pilgrims who came with their own stories of joy, sorrow, thanksgiving and petition. At their peak, they asked for nothing but to be admired.
Today, I returned to see them being pulled up. Brown, spent, and lifeless. The gardeners, the same hands that planted them with such hope, were now clearing them away. At first glance, it feels sad. An ending.
But that is the rhythm of Knock, and the rhythm of our lives.
We want to live forever in the time of full bloom. We want to stay in the summer seasons of life — when health is good, when family is all around the table, when faith feels easy. But Ecclesiastes reminds us that life is not one long summer. It is seasons.
There is a season for planting — the beginning, the birth, the new job, the new child, the new hope. It requires faith, because you are putting something small into the dark and trusting God with it.
There is a season for blooming — a time to grow, to flourish, to give glory. This is the season we live for, and we should truly enjoy it and thank God for it when we are in it.
And there is a season to be pulled up — a time to die, to let go, to grieve. Whether it is the death of a loved one, the end of a chapter, or simply the letting go of who we used to be. It feels like loss, but it is not the end of the story.
Because any gardener at Knock will tell you — you do not clear a flowerbed to leave it empty. You clear it to prepare it for new life. The pulling up is not destruction; it is preparation.
The same God who watched over the planting and the blooming is present in the clearing. Nothing is wasted. The old flowers will become compost, nourishment for what is to come next spring.
If you are in a season of planting today, have courage. If you are in a season of full bloom, have gratitude. And if you are in a season where things are being pulled up and it feels like an ending — have hope. A new season is already being prepared for you.
At Knock, Our Lady came in the pouring rain, in silence. She did not come to explain the seasons away. She came to stand with us in every season.
For everything there is a season. And for every season, there is grace.