2008 Woodie Awards
Spring in the Church
Colleen Dawson
Issue date: 5/1/07 Section: Features
Spring brings hope. After hard times, after pain and darkness, the moment when the sunlight comes out is the most glorious moment we can ever experience. This winter was a cold and dark one. But now, now the sun comes out.
The beauty that spring brings is not due simply to the flowers growing. It is not because the snow melts and the school year is almost ending. The beauty of spring is the light: the sunshine, glowing down, warming our skins, brightening our days, making getting up in the morning a pleasant act. It is the light of spring that touches our hearts, that fills us with anticipation for the life ahead. At Easter, it is the light of Christ that lifts are hearts, that fills us with hope and joy, in the knowledge that even death-death which humankind has feared for all of history-cannot defeat us. All hate, all evil was defeated in this ultimate act of life.
Every Lent, the Church asks each of us to start anew, to spend time exploring ourselves, to spend time sacrificing and waiting for the light of Christ to come. The word Lent comes from an Anglo-Saxon word lencten meaning "spring." And how distinctly spring comes hand in hand with Lent! Lent is a time of reflection, a time of reflection that ends in one joyful event. One event that personifies the deep essence of our souls, of the soul of Christianity and displays it in the most powerful and perfect way imaginable: that of rising from the dead.
In his message in preparation for the 18th World Youth Day, Pope John Paul II wrote, "Now more than ever it is crucial that you be 'watchers of the dawn', the lookouts who announce the light of dawn and the new springtime of the Gospel of which the buds can already be seen. Humanity is in urgent need of the witness of free and courageous young people who dare to go against the tide and proclaim with vigor and enthusiasm their personal faith in God, Lord and Savior."
Easter and spring are about hope, hope for ourselves, hope for the future, hope for the Church. The youth are that hope, and our lives are what will shape the church. Jesus rose from the dead on Easter! If even death cannot defeat us, our hope is inescapable. There is no room for despair in the world of Christianity. As people who place our hope in Christ, our hope is never ending. It does not revolve around our friends or our current situations, but rather around the Lord. The Holy Spirit is meant to dwell in us, work in us and bring us hope. As a people of a hope, we are meant to bring hope to others as well. We are meant to "announce the light of dawn and the new springtime of the Gospel."
The beauty that spring brings is not due simply to the flowers growing. It is not because the snow melts and the school year is almost ending. The beauty of spring is the light: the sunshine, glowing down, warming our skins, brightening our days, making getting up in the morning a pleasant act. It is the light of spring that touches our hearts, that fills us with anticipation for the life ahead. At Easter, it is the light of Christ that lifts are hearts, that fills us with hope and joy, in the knowledge that even death-death which humankind has feared for all of history-cannot defeat us. All hate, all evil was defeated in this ultimate act of life.
Every Lent, the Church asks each of us to start anew, to spend time exploring ourselves, to spend time sacrificing and waiting for the light of Christ to come. The word Lent comes from an Anglo-Saxon word lencten meaning "spring." And how distinctly spring comes hand in hand with Lent! Lent is a time of reflection, a time of reflection that ends in one joyful event. One event that personifies the deep essence of our souls, of the soul of Christianity and displays it in the most powerful and perfect way imaginable: that of rising from the dead.
In his message in preparation for the 18th World Youth Day, Pope John Paul II wrote, "Now more than ever it is crucial that you be 'watchers of the dawn', the lookouts who announce the light of dawn and the new springtime of the Gospel of which the buds can already be seen. Humanity is in urgent need of the witness of free and courageous young people who dare to go against the tide and proclaim with vigor and enthusiasm their personal faith in God, Lord and Savior."
Easter and spring are about hope, hope for ourselves, hope for the future, hope for the Church. The youth are that hope, and our lives are what will shape the church. Jesus rose from the dead on Easter! If even death cannot defeat us, our hope is inescapable. There is no room for despair in the world of Christianity. As people who place our hope in Christ, our hope is never ending. It does not revolve around our friends or our current situations, but rather around the Lord. The Holy Spirit is meant to dwell in us, work in us and bring us hope. As a people of a hope, we are meant to bring hope to others as well. We are meant to "announce the light of dawn and the new springtime of the Gospel."
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Sister Rosemarie
posted 1/24/08 @ 7:11 AM PST
Dear Colleen;
Your article on Lent was super! I am preparing something to put on our webpage for Lent and would like to quote you if that is ok with you. (Continued…)
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