March Winds and April Showers

“MARCH WINDS AND APRIL SHOWERS” - A REFLECTION FOR EASTER MONDAY

A few mornings ago, as I was walking the grounds of Villa St. Joseph, our Ecology and Spirituality Centre on the shores of Lake Ontario in Cobourg, I realized that despite the persistent cold there was a hint of Spring in the air and in my footsteps too! Suddenly, I was reminded of the predictable words of my mother as Spring approached, “March winds and April showers bring forth sweet May flowers”; a traditional English proverb dating back centuries. The literal sense of the proverb refers to the necessity of the cold winds of March and the rains of April (typical early Spring weather in the U.K. and in Western Canada especially) for the moist conditions in the soil necessary for the growth of the fresh flowers of May.

The phrase is often used to encourage those experiencing temporary hardship of the possibility of better times ahead. It has been expressed in various ways, including music. An example is the song, composed in 1935, by Walter G. Samuels and performed, in typical music hall fashion, by American singer, Ruth Ettings. The song and the various articulations of the proverb imply that growth and transformation can result from a certain dying, struggle and rising cycle – a cycle that points to hope and new life. The whole process as we experience seasonal change and as we celebrate the beautiful hope of Easter reminds us that the Paschal Mystery is writ large in the natural world and has been from the very beginning of God’s creation.

The Paschal Mystery encompasses the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, just celebrated with gratitude and joy in our churches. That mystery is revealed and echoed in nature as a cosmic pattern of life, death and renewal. We are aware of it as we plant Spring seeds with hope for a flowering yet to come. In nature and in faith we can begin to grasp the life and promise that arises in patient waiting for “the gifts of God for the people of God” as the Anglican a book of Alternative Services reminds us. In both faith and in nature we see a revelation of divinity - the divinity of the risen Christ and of the emergent pattern of hope in the natural world. In both we discover an invitation to touch God – to enter fully into the sufferings, joys and beauty of the world. In it all we are called to lifelong transformation.  

The Jesuit priest and paleontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) put this beautifully when he wrote in his great Hymn of the Universe: “Bathe yourself in the ocean of matter; plunge into it where it is deepest; struggle in its currents and drink of its waters. For it cradled you long ago in your pre-conscious existence, and it is that ocean that will raise you up to God.”

May we be raised up to God and encounter joy, hope and rejoicing in the emerging world of Spring as we continue to celebrate together the great season of promise beginning this Easter Monday!

-Sister Mary Rowell, CSJ

Images: Sabbra Cadabra/Photogitthi/RODOLFO BARRETTO | Unsplash

The Hope of Easter Monday

As far as holidays go, Easter Monday in Canada is a bit “hit or miss”! The Federal Government lists it as a statutory holiday and some provinces and territories keep it as such, others don’t or it is left to the discretion of employers. When I immigrated to Canada from the U.K. I must confess this was a big surprise and disappointment especially when studying theology at the University of Toronto I found myself having to take exams on Easter Monday! I had been used to Easter Monday as a day of joyful relaxation, of sharing happiness with all. In many countries it is a day marked by festivities with families and friends, a time to take trips, enjoy meals together and, from a Christian perspective, a time for continuation of Easter celebration. 

Once I had recovered from my Easter Monday nostalgia I began to think of the day anew. At the very heart of Easter Monday is the hope-filled news of resurrection – new life and promise as Springtime too unfolds with its gifts. It isn’t simply a continuation of Easter celebrations. Rather, Easter Monday reminds us to move forward in hope. It is a day to celebrate faith and self-giving love, a time for reflection on the promise of life given us in Christ and in the seasons celebrated more widely by all. Easter Monday provides us with a gateway into the long Easter season of joy as we contemplate the transformative potential given in faith in the Paschal Mystery. Even in hard, dead times the memory and rebirth of hope to be rekindled is ever-present. The whole Easter season sends out an invitation to reach toward others, especially those who may be struggling with disillusionment, grief, anxiety and to the decimated Earth. A good question to ask of ourselves is “what difference does resurrection make in my life and in my care for others and in my world perspective”? Perhaps we can say, “it makes all the difference in the world!”  

In a beautiful, albeit sad, poem called, “Easter Monday”, written by poet, Eleanor Farjeon in memory of her friend, Edward Thomas who was killed on Easter Monday, 1917 on a battlefield in France during World War 1, we catch glimpses of still-existent hope. We read of promise beyond the present moment, a restoration of life even in death, resurrection in harsh reality and loss.  The poem reflects a sudden and extreme grief but also echoes magnificently in the final verse, the consolation of the Divine in its images of Easter and the new life of Spring: 

That Easter Monday was a day for praise, 
It was such a lovely morning. 
In our garden we sowed our earliest seeds, 
and in the orchard, the apple bud was ripe.  

May this easter Monday bring seeds of hope and new life to all.  

-Sister Mary Rowell, csj

Images: Unsplash Tim Gouw