Spring is my favorite season. It brings renewal and revival. As winter fades, color returns and life rises again. I love celebrating Easter during spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Just as Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, plants that lay dormant through winter come back to new life.
Although Jesus kept some of His wounds for our sake, His resurrected body became glorified and perfected. His appearance changed so much that some of His disciples did not recognize Him at first. We too will be transformed at our resurrection, but we should also pursue personal renewal now. Lent calls us to grow in our relationship with God, and Easter invites us to live out that growth. It is the perfect time to show the beauty of a life changed for the better.
I once tried to make bread with old yeast, and it failed. Fresh, healthy yeast makes the dough rise and produces good bread. In the same way, we sometimes need new inspiration for our souls to grow. What has changed in your life over the past year? How can you use those experiences to deepen your faith and draw closer to God? Do not settle for staying the same. Keep growing and seek new ways to strengthen your spiritual life.
Many people deep clean their homes each spring. We should do the same with our souls. Go to the sacrament of reconciliation if it has been a while. Identify what harms your soul and take steps to remove it. Just as we seal our homes to keep out pests, we must guard what we allow into our minds, bodies, and souls. When we commit to steady growth, our lives begin to reflect beauty and new life. Jesus died and rose again, so let us die to sin and rise to become the person God calls us to be.
