Where do we see abundant life?

When I served in parish ministry, one of the ways we would bring the events of Holy Week
and Easter to life was through the creation of an indoor Easter garden. It began on Palm
Sunday with the reading of the Passion from the Gospel of John. As parishioners took turns
reading a section of the Passion, the children would bring forward items to place in the
garden that symbolized that part of the story. While it started as a box of dirt, by the time
we had finished hearing the story of the betrayal, arrest, denial, trial, mocking, crucifixion,
and death of Jesus, there were rocks, small pieces of palm fronds, a pathway, three small
wooden crosses on a hill, and a tomb in one corner with a large rock placed in front to seal
it. The garden looked rather bleak. The only real colour was found in the green plants near
the garden tomb.
You can likely imagine the children’s surprise when they came back Easter morning to find
the garden alive with pink, yellow, purple, and white flowers. And all that dirt? It was
covered by green grass growing tall and lush. Even before we looked inside the tomb to
find it empty with white cloths neatly folded, it was clear that life was now abundant and
thriving where once it appeared that death had prevailed. What the children didn’t know is
that after the liturgy was over on Palm Sunday, we sprinkled grass seed on the dirt and
gently and carefully watered it throughout the week. I’ll admit, the first year we created our
garden, I was skeptical. What if the grass didn’t grow? I had visions of having to create an
Astroturf Easter Garden come Sunday morning! However, the problem was usually the
reverse: the grass grew too fast. One year we thought we might have to cut it before Easter
morning! It was as if new life couldn’t wait to burst forth from the dark brown earth.
As I consider the past five years of my ministry as your diocesan bishop, I recall moments
when the future looked bleak to some of us. It still can at times. And yet, as I visit parishes
across the diocese, the signs of growth and brightness are so often evident, if we only take
time to look around and pay attention. One of the questions I ask when I meet with Parish
Council members is, "What’s going well in the parish that you want to share with me?”
Sometimes, people are gushing to share the good news of parish life. One story or event or
parish ministry experience leads to another and another and another. Sometimes, however,
there is a pause as folks consider what to say. In one such moment in a recent parish visit, I
sensed a need to follow up by saying, “It doesn’t have to be anything big or spectacular.
What are some of the ordinary, everyday good things that happen here?”

What I often hear about is how people are humbly living their faith and inviting others to
join them. I hear about acts of kindness and compassion in their neighbourhoods and
communities. I hear about newcomers—whether from other parts of that province, the
country, or beyond—being welcomed into the life of the parish and the communities it
serves. In one such parish I was struck by the fact that fully one-quarter of the worshipping
congregation that day had moved into the parish within the past one to ten years. And
every single one of them was active somehow in providing leadership, offering their gifts to
build up the body of Christ in that place. They had found a home here, a place of radical
welcome and belonging. This was a small rural parish. It was not growing numerically by
leaps and bounds, but the seeds of faith were being watered gently and persistently. New
life was emerging in all its colour and vitality, and hope was being reawakened. I
encouraged Parish Council members to think about how they could share the good news
that they are a welcoming, loving, caring community striving to follow Jesus and his way of
love with those who are desperately seeking a spiritual home and a place to belong.
As Easter approaches, I invite you to look around to see where there is abundance in your
life, in your parish, and in your community. Share these stories with one another. Be bold
and generous in spreading and sowing the seeds of faith, in watering and tending those
seeds, in nurturing new growth, and in proclaiming the wonder of abundance and new life
all around you. As the prophet Isaiah reminded us so long ago, God is doing a new thing; do
you not see it?
Blessings on your Holy Week and Easter preparations.
Bishop Sandra