Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
Spring is a wonderful time to enjoy the beauty of nature, and creation offers us insights into the Divine’s expression of love. On a recent walk, I came across a sidewalk (and lawn area) completed covered with “helicopters” (samaras). The abundance of the seeds covering the ground was remarkable. Upon further reflection, I realized that these seeds reflect the generous abundance of God showering the earth with grace and the Holy Spirit.
In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and the apostles are speaking boldly and proclaiming the truth about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They state that they must obey God in speaking these truths, and it is through the grace of the Holy Spirit that they are able to be witnesses to those around them.
The gospel reading highlights Jesus telling His disciples that the Father has sent Him and gives everything to Him. Jesus explains that God does not “ration his gift of the Spirit.” God is generous in sharing this Spirit which allows those who receive it to not only recognize the Word of God, but also to live in the abundance of that love in eternal life.
Using further analogy, the samaras reflect for me God sending down the Spirit in abundance over the earth. We are invited to be fertile ground to receive God’s grace and allow it to flourish. As the seed becomes a mature tree, it becomes a place of refuge, beauty and generative goodness. With God’s Spirit and grace, we too can become a refuge (for the poor, the immigrant and those on the margins), beauty (upholding mercy, compassion, love and peace as the signs of our faith in Christ), and generative goodness (sending out our seeds of service to spread God’s goodness and Spirit with the world around us).
As we continue to marvel at the new life of spring that surrounds us, may we continue to see God’s abundant love and goodness calling us forward to be signs of new life and hope for all those we encounter.
—Marylynn Herchline