A glorious Friday after Easter! Easter morning's rising sun shone gold and pink on a green and blue spring day, heralding the Risen Son. A day to celebrate and rejoice!
How grateful I am to be reminded again and again of my dependence on the Lord. Yet again I have limped through Lent only to be reminded of the goodness of grace given even when undeserved.
Who can ever be worthy of a sunny spring day? The beauty of ephemeral wildflowers never fails to delight. The mystery of Resurrection is annually reenacted in the woods and on the altar, along the waterways and roads, and in our hearts. A liturgical year tied to the seasons is part of God's wisdom, and although we well know that it is not spring on the other side of the globe, there is still the rejoicing at a rainbow or a flowers during the rainy season to remind us that darkness and clouds are necessary for joy. Failure is necessary for success. Sleep precedes rising. Labor pains precede birth. Death accompanies birth as generations pass on; the new generation consoles the old as they see the perpetuation of love in their offspring.
We spent our Easter celebration at my parents' farm with four generations. Although I would have loved to stay for the liturgies at our parish or on campus because I knew a few people, including one of my students, who were receiving sacraments at the Easter Vigil Mass, we decided to spend the weekend with family, which was just as special.
Much of our conversation over the weekend centered on the revival happening in the Church. My daughter said she heard at Easter Sunday Mass that over a million people were received into the church this Easter. My daughter-in-law attended the Vigil to celebrate a family member's confirmation, along with 99 others. There were 79 catechumens welcomed at the Vigil on campus. I heard it lasted over three hours. Everywhere the same story is being told: young people, and older ones, are returning to the faith.
Some thoughts on causes for these conversions: a desire for meaning, for belonging, for grace, for something real, for truth, for beauty... One student of mine suggested desire for identity and culture at the root of this seeking for God - or being called by Him. Another student said that since Covid people have wanted community. Perhaps as creation is threatened, people are turning to a Creator. Perhaps AI may be driving people to seek substance, incarnation, presence. Perhaps people are asking what makes them human and finding God. Perhaps people are recognizing that we are more than just the material of our bodies, that our capacities to love and to forgive and to imagine and to create are the ways we are images of God. That love exists suggest a God who loves. That we have free will means we need a Savior. The Gospel story continues to call to the world to repent and begin again. The sacrificial love of Christ requires a response. Or perhaps the Holy Spirit is working in the world in ways beyond our understanding. Whatever the cause of this renewal, it's a reason to hope.
In between feasting, hunting eggs, and indulging in all of the good things we had fasted from for the previous 40+ days, we also admired wildflowers while on a couple short hikes in the woods and reveled in the adorableness of our granddaughter, who reminded us of the gift of life and the blessing of simple pleasures - sunshine, flowers, nourishment, and trust in the goodness of the world. Alleluia!
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Spring Beauties find life on a fallen tree
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| Hepatica |
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Home for many life forms
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| Meandering through the mayapples |
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Blue skies and cartwheels on Easter Monday |
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Curls
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