2 weeks Ago
I might be mellowing, but I am not minding spring as much this year. Here’s the deal. In my favorability ranking of seasons, spring is dead last.
Why? Well, spring holds the promise of moving toward pleasant weather progressing to those long and warm days of summer. And that does happen. And then .
.. it doesn’t.
Not only does it stop progressing, it often regresses. I had my shorts on for a couple of days a few weeks ago, nice days, and then bam. Snow.
And cold. And bam ..
. rain, lots of rain. Spring teases you with pleasantness then turns around and slaps you upside your head.
But, it doesn't seem to bother me as much as times gone by, maybe I’m mellowing in my old age. Even through the snow flurries, I can see the buds of our lilac bush reappear. Heartening.
Spring is the season of Easter, the Catholic celebration of Jesus rising from death three short days after being cruelly executed at the behest of some of his own people and the shallowness of Pontius Pilate. Easter is the basis of Christianity ..
. Jesus proving he is who he said he was, the son of God. And telling us all we can rise from the dead too.
It’s a pretty powerful message that has captivated millions for over two thousand years. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts Easter is easily the most important Christian holiday theologically, even if Christmas is more celebrated commercially. Maybe the church should just set a date for Easter instead of it moving around every year according to some inexplicable (at least to me) formula.
It might catch Christmas commercially. Actually, I hope it doesn’t. Speaking of church and spring, many young people in my church, Jesus Shepherd of Souls (the church comprised of the former Calumet City parishes of St.
Victor, St. Andrew and Our Lady of Knock) will be making their first Communion. They will accept Jesus in the form of the consecrated host for the first time.
A momentous time for many Catholic families. Also toward the end of spring, the sacrament of Confirmation takes place for 26 young high schoolers from the parish. We call on the spirit of God to come upon them as they confirm their desire to be part of the church they were brought to as infants at their baptisms.
I am blessed and happy to be one of their catechists. On a different but closely related note, I attended my first seder meal this spring. A friend of mine of the Jewish tradition invited my wife and me to that traditional meal that remembers the troubles and turmoil and eventual ending of slavery of the Hebrew people in Egypt centuries before the birth of Jesus.
Since this story is from Exodus, part of both the Christian and Jewish scriptures, I knew the story of the flight from Egypt. And I knew of the seder, the celebration of Passover which is what Jesus and his disciples were about on the night he was arrested leading to his death. What I did not know, was of the beauty and simplicity and the symbolism of all that is part and parcel of this ancient tradition.
Experience is knowledge. Experience leads to understanding. Thank you Ken and Marylin for the experience.
The traditional Jewish homeland is also the homeland of the Palestinian people, and without any commentary, let us just say it is a deeply troubled part of the world. I don’t know how it can come to be, but somehow experience and knowledge have got to come to some understanding ..
. and peace. Easter is a rising.
Passover is freedom. Spring is new life. May these come to pass for our oft troubled world.
Happy Easter everyone. Thanks for reading..
