The Rev. Tom Helfrich of Saint Rita Catholic Church in Clarklake compared life's temptations toward sin to weeds in a garden during his July 19 homily, which was posted on YouTube.

“The weeds, the weeds keep coming,” he told parishioners. “They just keep coming.”

Just like weeds in a garden, all the things that hinder a Catholic life will keep coming back even as we work to remove them from our lives, Helfrich said. That means that Catholics need to work to create the opposite virtue in their lives when they encounter temptations toward sin.

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“When you find yourself struggling with anger, work on patience, calm and peace,” he said. “When you recognize how selfish you can be, be deliberate about generosity.”

And Catholics also need to be wary of “making friends” with their weeds, Helfrich said.

“Be careful about that old attitude that says, ‘Oh, it’s just human nature,’ or, ‘Well, everybody does it,’” he cautioned. “We’re called beyond everybody. And frankly we’re called beyond human nature.”

Helfrich recalled the second reading of the Mass, and the line, “The spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought.” 

He reminded the congregation of the sacrament of confession, which is always available, and is, “a beautiful, cleansing gift.” Helfrich also mentioned the words of Saint Francis de Sales regarding the sacrament of reconciliation and confession, saying that it is a simple and readily available remedy for sins.

“And yet we come up with every excuse under the sun to avoid it,” he said.

There can be a sense of futility in having to face not only dealing with sin as a regular task, but in dealing with the same sins over and over again, Helfrich said. Yet, it is only by keeping up the work to deal with the weeds that the garden is maintained.