Seasons

9 Apr

“Our lives are a journey. As we move forward, we will not only figuratively experience the geography of life: the exhilaration of high mountains, the tranquility of calm meadows, the isolation of treacherous canyons, but we will also experience the seasons of life: the hope of spring, the abundance of summer, the harvest of autumn, and yes, the darkness and depression of winter.”  ~ Seth Adam Smith

Winter, spring, summer, autumn. Baseball, basketball, football, hockey. Lent, Easter, Advent, Christmas. Childhood, young adult, mid-life, old age. There are many kinds of seasons that we enter and leave throughout our lives. Some are external and some are internal. Go through them all, we must.

We are now in the Easter Season. This past Sunday completed the Octave of Easter: where, liturgically, we celebrated Easter every day. Yesterday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation. Today, we begin the general Easter Season. It will proceed up to the celebration of Pentecost. After Pentecost, we go back to the Season of Ordinary Time.

The seasons in the Church give us opportunities to reflect upon God’s love in special ways. This season, of course, we focus upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a victory that opened the gates of heaven and destroyed the darkness and death of sin. Jesus extends to each of us a personal invitation to live with Him forever in heaven. Our response is not forced. We are free to choose His invitation or to reject it.

We show Him in which direction we are leaning by the manner in which we live our lives. If we want to choose heaven, we will be people of love, mercy, justice, and understanding. If we are going to reject the kingdom, we will be greedy, selfish, cruel, and merciless. Just typing that sends shivers up and down my spine. Shivers because the reality of it is that there are those who choose to live away from God and who espouse the opposite of the virtues on a daily basis. They are people we would rather not be around.

But, you know, they are people for whom we need to pray. Remember, we were all lost, we were all worthless, helpless sinners until Jesus redeemed us by His death and resurrection. Being redeemed, we need to make sure others hear the invitation that comes from God. We can only do that, though, if we are an Easter people not just throughout this season but through all the seasons of our lives.

FAITH ACTION:  As we continue the Easter Season, ask God to fill your heart with the joy of the resurrection so that you may witness Christ’s love to the world around you.