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| Illustration by
Phil Younk |
Spring is here. Nature is beginning to waken from its dark winter sleep. The hours of daylight are getting longer. We look for new life “springing” up outside — trees budding and becoming leafy, shrubs turning green and flowery, and flowers poking through the earth and blooming with color. We hear birds chirping, and we eagerly welcome more bright sunshine and warmer weather.
People will be starting work on their gardens and lawns. It will take a lot of hard work besides good soil, seeds, fertilizer, water, sun, weeding, and tools to dig, cut, and prune for strong, healthy grass, plants, and trees.
At the same time, we continue our reverent Lenten journey and look forward to the awesome joy of Jesus’ glorious Resurrection on Easter.
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus says, “The time has come for me to be glorified. Just as a grain of wheat must be buried in the earth, die, and then rise to life as a tall, strong sheaf of wheat to produce many grains, so the Son of God must die so that many can live.”
While Jesus was troubled because he knew before long Judas would betray him and his suffering and death on the cross were approaching, he prayed to God the Father for courage and strength.
As he had done many times before, Jesus used a familiar object from nature to explain his teaching. He wanted his disciples — and he wants us — to understand that like the seed, his death was necessary if we all were to be given new life. Jesus suffered and died on the cross and rose from the dead so that we can share new and everlasting life with him in heaven.
We have been baptized and belong to God’s family. We are called to die to sin and selfishness and to bear the fruit of Jesus’ love to others.
Some examples: Offer to spend a day with grandpa and grandma and help them with their chores; visit someone who is lonely and sick; remember to say “thank you,” “please,” “I’m sorry,” and “you’re welcome;” thank mom and dad for all the little things they do for you; without being told, help take care of your younger brother or sister; smile at everyone you meet during the day; help mom with the dishes or laundry; when family members come home from work or school, give them a hug; help dad with the yard work; be a friend to a classmate you never spend time with; pray for our military men and women serving in countries all over the world; save your pennies and take them to church on Easter for the poor. Can you think of other examples?
As part of God’s family, our parish family, our own family, we grow from seeds to new life — “bloom where you are planted.”
(Couture is a catechist at St. Aloysius Parish, West Allis.) |
