Gift of new life

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Father Dominic Emmanuel [1]

One of the astounding experiences I had during my first trip to Europe was the sight of a tree in winter. I had arrived in Germany in the month of July when everything was green and beautiful and I particularly remember a cherry tree in the backyard of a family garden. I was totally taken aback when I saw the same tree in December with not a single leaf on it.

Not being familiar with the seasonal changes that trees undergo, I wondered how the tree had died so soon.
The stark difference between autumn and spring seasons in our country are not as clearly visible as they are in colder countries where the trees wear a completely barren look for a few months after autumn until new leaves are noticed on them during spring season. In our country the process of trees shedding their leaves and the new ones taking their place happens almost simultaneously as one can see happening these days.
Be it in the colder countries of the North or the warmer climates of the South, the fact of trees shedding their leaves and wearing new ones is pleasing not just to the eyes but it also warms the cockles of one’s heart. Year after year, this cycle of changes in the season announces a new beginning of a portion of life in nature.
Interestingly, it is in the season of spring that the great Christian feast of Easter comes about. The church and Christians celebrate Easter season, in all liturgies and prayers for the next 40 days till the feast of Pentecost. After more than 40 days of Lent, when, like the trees which shed the old leaves, believers in Jesus Christ, try to shed their old inconvenient habits and renew their life, by attempting to wear new habits with the author of life, the Son of God.
Jesus, by his death and resurrection, does not merely promise a new life but actually grants to believers the gift of new life. As the Bible says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life”.
At Easter, however, it is not just the case of new leaves symbolising some portion of newness in life by shedding old habits. Spring time and Easter may be coincidental and life in Christ is much more than just getting rid of our negative tendencies. The real meaning and import of Easter is new life in its totality and in ways that brings much fruits for others too.
The gospel of St. John describes to us that before Jesus began his journey which ended up in His crucifixion, he told his disciples, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit”.
The gospel says that Jesus said this in response to his disciples’ request that some Greeks wanted to see him. Greeks were a new set of people who were coming across Jesus, having heard of His miraculous powers and His teachings.
It is curious that to His disciples as well as to the Greeks, Jesus lets them know that His forthcoming death on the Cross would be an hour that will glorify Him. Even more interestingly, he compares His death with a grain of wheat which goes into the dark recesses of the earth to die there. It loses itself completely to the soil. That, however, is not the end of its life. It dies only to bring new life, multiplying it manifolds. The image of the grain of wheat dying in order to bear much fruit signifies that the death of Jesus is in order to give life to many.
Jesus was clear from the beginning about the purpose of His coming to this earth and that He would have to embrace death in order to fulfil the promise of new life. That is the reason, St. Paul, referring to the death and resurrection of Jesus, writes, “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.”
Jesus becomes the Lord of the dead and the living not by acquiring wealth and power. He becomes that by sacrificing His life. The resurrection of Jesus in this Easter season shows us that our readiness to sacrifice our life for others, even to the point of death, brings new life for ourselves and for others and which is much more valuable and indeed more beautiful than new leaves on trees in spring.

— Father Dominic Emmanuel, a founder-member of Parliament of Religions, is currently the director of communication of the Delhi Catholic Church. He was awarded the National Communal Harmony Award 2008 by the Government of India. He can be contacted at frdominic@gmail.com