From Death to Life - April Thoughts...

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places." John 14:1-2

April arrived this year with a heaviness I did not expect, and a beauty I could not have planned.

At the very beginning of the month, on April 1st, my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly. And by the end of the month, our home was filled with laughter and celebration as we hosted a bridal shower for my daughter, “Fresh Off the Market”, a day overflowing with family, friends, joy, and the promise of new beginnings.

All of it unfolded within the holiest stretch of our liturgical year: from the depths of Holy Week into the life and radiance of Easter.

Death…and life.

Sorrow…and joy.

All within the span of a few short weeks.

My father-in-law was not a man who showed up in the ways we often longed for. There were absences and gaps that were felt. And yet, beneath that, there was something authentic and real. He was dutiful, and he was prayerful. His faith and service to his parish was a large part of the fabric of his life. And now, at his passing, we are reminded that God sees the whole story, the parts we understood and the parts we did not.

Holy Week has a way of preparing us for this kind of reality. We walk with Christ through betrayal, suffering, and death. We sit in the stillness of Holy Saturday, where everything feels suspended between loss and hope. And then Easter morning breaks through by transforming the cross...the suffering...the loss.

That is exactly how most of April felt.

The month began in loss. The kind of loss that makes you sad, angry, and grateful all at once. The kind that makes you stop and take inventory of life, relationships, and what truly matters. And yet, it did not end there.

By the time Easter had come, and continued to unfold in its octave and beyond, something else was rising.

---

At the end of April, we gathered to celebrate my daughter and her upcoming wedding. The bridal shower was soft and joyful, filled with flowers, laughter, and the quiet awe of watching a new vocation begin to take shape. There was something almost sacred about it, this moment of life blooming right on the heels of death. 

Isn’t this how life is? We don’t know which experience will be next…life, death, joy, sorrow, peace, grief. 

This is the mystery of our faith, our life and the paradox of the cross.

The Cross is not only a place of suffering; it is the very place where suffering is redeemed. It is where grief can give way to peace and where loss can open the door to joy by allowing God to enter into it. The same Cross that held sorrow beyond words became the source of eternal life. And so, somehow, in the Christian life, we find that even in our deepest sorrow, grace is at work. Even in death, life moves forward and quietly breaks through.

---

"We are Easter people and Alleluia is our song." ~St. John Paul II

To be “Easter people” is to live with a hope that is not dependent on our circumstances. It is a lived, daily trust that resurrection is real, not just something we celebrate once a year, but something we participate in daily. It means we carry within us the certainty that light follows darkness, that life rises from death, and that God is always working toward restoration, even when we cannot yet see it.

This gives us a deep, steady hope grounded in the confidence of God's love. We know that life is not easy. We know that loss is real, that grief can be heavy, and that the Cross is part of every human story. But we also know something more. We know that death is not the end.

---

Now, as we step into May, this truth only deepens.

The Church gives us this entire month under the care of Our Blessed Mother, a woman who knew both profound sorrow and immeasurable joy. She stood at the foot of the Cross, and she also rejoiced in the Resurrection. She teaches us how to hold both in our hearts.

May is alive with reminders of life:

~Mother’s Day, where we honor the gift of motherhood.

~The celebration of Our Lady of Fatima, calling us back to prayer and trust.

~The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, giving us a glimpse of the eternal.

~The beauty of sacraments, First Communions and Confirmations, where grace is poured out in visible ways.

~Pentecost Sunday, opening our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit.

~Graduations, transitions, and new paths unfolding.

Everywhere you turn, life is emerging. “From death to life” is not just a theological idea. It is something we are living daily, often without even realizing it. 

• It is present in a life that, while imperfect and distant, was still rooted in duty and prayer, and now rests in the mercy of God. 

• It is present in our daughter stepping into her future, surrounded by love, hope, and the excitement of what is to come. 

• It is present in our son's precious family awaiting the birth of their third son and our oldest grandson celebrating his 4th birthday.

• It is present in a Church that faithfully leads us, year after year, through the Cross, into the empty tomb, and out into the world to share the Good News.

  
  

April held both an ending and a beginning for our family.

And now May stretches before us, full of life, full of grace, full of quiet invitations to trust that God is always at work.

This is the story of Easter.

This is the rhythm of the Church.

And, whether we are ready or not, it is the story of our own lives.

Alleluia will forever be our song.