Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
James Martin, S.J.February 18, 2020
Photo by Roan Lavery on Unsplash

Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Google Play
Join our Patreon Community

In North America, where I live, we are in the dead of winter. I know that that might not be the case for all listeners, but maybe for a good many of you. And it’s a hard time for many people. The cold, the snow, the sleet, the slush, the still enveloping darkness of the days, can make some people a bit depressed. You look at the bare ground, the leafless trees and the leaden skies and wonder whether spring or summer will ever come again. The cold and darkness seem so permanent. The persistence of darkness and cold is a good metaphor for times in life when it seems that nothing will change or even nothing can change. And when times seem hopeless, we can be tempted to despair. 

Easter, we know from the Gospels, happened around Passover, which means it happened historically in the Spring. And maybe one reason God arranged it this way was to enable us to see the connection between what happens on Easter Sunday and what can happen to us in our lives: that is, there is always hope, there is always the promise of new life, and suffering is never the last word. So maybe this week you might see that while some parts of your life are dark, they are not beyond God’s ability to bring light into them.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Jesuit Father Andriy Zelinskyy, coordinator of military chaplains for the Ukrainian Catholic Church, is pictured in a 2018 photo.
When reflecting on the life, death and resurrection of the Lord while living in a state of military invasion and active war, “everything becomes more authentic,” and “God ceases to be just a concept,” says Andriy Zelinskyy, S.J. “He really becomes a source of life and all hope for you and for
PreachMarch 17, 2024
One study showed Catholics donated the least amount of money of all denominations surveyed.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 15, 2024
Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera and Teresa Morris Kettlekamp will lead the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
Gerard O’ConnellMarch 15, 2024
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that exemptions that allow religious organizations to avoid paying Wisconsin’s unemployment tax don’t apply to a Catholic charitable organization.