Commentary on the Gospel of
Though the Easter season occurs at different times in the cycle of seasons according to our location on earth, here in the Midwestern United States it coincides with spring, the time of planting. The barren soil now receives seeds which, though now hidden, will become robust crops in a few short months.
St. Paul reminds us on this Easter Sunday that “our life is hidden with Christ in God.” Because of the gift of baptism, there is new life germinating within us, pointing us toward the future when we too “will appear with him in glory.” So sure is this future harvest that St. Paul urges us to “think and to “seek” what is above, to orient our sight there.
The farmer tending the seed with great care does so because he knows the outcome, the harvest. Even so, St. Paul, knowing that we live amid the incompleteness of our life’s journey, encourages us to contemplate what is to come. All this is not to distract us from life in the present, but to make sure that life has its proper focus and goal.
I once saw an inscription over the doorway of an elementary school which read: the hope of the harvest is in the seed. On this day of Resurrection, do I believe that the seed of future glory lies within me? How will I tend and care for the seed of faith which I have been given? How will I cherish the presence of Christ Jesus alive within me today?
