By Kristi Quinlan
“Mom, can I eat breakfast with my plant?”
5-year-old Thomas and his brother have been eagerly tending sprouting seeds they planted at a Flourish Lenten activity. All children are mesmerized by the miracle of roots and leaves bursting out of a tiny seed that didn’t look alive. Their sense of wonder invites us adults to slow down and appreciate what Spring’s unfolding teaches.
In our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) sessions with children and in a couple parent gatherings I’ve led recently, I’ve shared the CGS presentation we call, “The Mystery of Life and Death.” We proclaim the simple parable Jesus told in John 12:24.
“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”
The children examine wheat – from seed form, to sprouting, growing, and finally a mature stalk of wheat with many new seeds. We wonder together at how a single grain can disintegrate, and bring forth such abundant life.
It’s as if God has imprinted the Paschal Mystery – his suffering, death, and resurrection – on all of Creation. So that we would see the pattern in nature… every season… over and over. So that we would be fearless and certain of the life that comes after death. “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live” (John 11:25). Take note of his manifold reminders this Spring… with hopeful wonder.