The beginning of spring is always my favorite time of year. The days get longer, the weather gets warmer, and we begin to see flowers bloom. The harsh winter gives way to spring as the plants that once looked dead are brought to new life. It is fitting that Easter happens amid these changing seasons to remind us that life can come out of death. Before we celebrate this joy, the Church first calls us to pass through the darkest hours with Christ. 

During these next few days, we will celebrate the Triduum, which begins this evening with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and culminates at the Easter Vigil. These days remind us of what Christ endured: betrayal, suffering, and ultimately death. As we journey to Calvary with Christ, it seems impossible to believe that Friday is considered good. The journey to victory looked, at first, like defeat. Even St. Paul says to the Corinthians that Christ crucified is “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” In the eyes of the world, Christ’s death would have appeared to be the end of the story. Yet, we, as Christians, know this was only the beginning. 

Our created world offers us an insightful image of how perennial plants operate in the winter. In the winter, perennial plants enter a state of dormancy. During this dormancy, the plant looks dead and lifeless, but underneath the surface, its roots are being preserved and prepared for the spring. So too, with the Cross, apparent defeat was the hidden beginning of victory – all part of God’s plan. 

Christ’s death on the cross was the beginning of redemption, a necessary part of the victory of His Resurrection. In conquering death, Christ gives new life to all of us. Every Easter, we are reminded of how God renews what seems lifeless and dead. Even more, God transforms suffering into salvation, death into life.

At the Easter Vigil Mass this Saturday, these words will be proclaimed: “O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ. O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!” 

When I first heard these words, I was taken aback at the language used, “O happy fault.” What a way to describe the entrance of sin into the world! And yet, this language is meant to remind us why Easter is such a glorious season. To be clear, sin is not good, and suffering itself is not good. Rather, what the Easter story shows us is that God can bring the greatest good out of any situation, no matter how bleak. Out of the seemingly worst event, original sin, God brings redemption and new life.  

As we enter these holy days, let us allow these words to offer us a new perspective on what seems lifeless. Consider how God is working “under the surface” in your life now – preserving roots and preparing new life. The Easter season shows us that God wastes nothing – not winter, and especially not the Cross. May we have the eyes to see how God is transforming our lives, one season at a time, and may this Easter bring you insurmountable peace and joy. 

In Christ,

Madison Williams

Retreat Coordinator & Theology Faculty