As April exploded into the exuberance of a long-awaited spring, many welcomed her arrival with great joy.
Truly, the glory of Easter, buds bursting from their hiding places, ever brighter evenings and the return of birds and butterflies are all great signs of good things to come. After what was, for much of the country, an extra-cold winter, the coming of spring seems particularly appreciated.
April also heralds the arrival of a new baseball season.
This occasion is neither a liturgical event nor a wonder of nature. It is fanatically observed by some, unnoticed by others, and a mystery to others. With post-season games lengthening the baseball season long into the fall, Opening Day seems to have arrived very quickly for some, while others lament that it has taken so long to arrive.
Yet, when a new season begins – for baseball or, indeed, for any other sport – there is a feeling like no other that also has something to teach about life.
There is a wonderful sense that anything is possible in the months ahead. As the season begins, no team has yet fallen behind. No players have yet been injured. The hope of being a World Series champion seems possible in a way that it does not after the season moves on and standings start to settle.
More importantly, the past does not seem to matter. The errors, missed chances and wasted opportunities of last season are left behind and injuries have had several months to heal. As someone who roots loyally for a team that consistently pulls defeat from the jaws of victory, the ability to put last season behind is a refreshing reset.
Perhaps there is something to be learned about life from America’s favorite pastime.
The willingness to start anew and to let go of the past is a challenge and a blessing that God gives us each day, indeed, each moment of our lives.
Like a baseball team rebounding from a bad year, we all have the chance to look forward to the future and not only to the past. Certainly, there is always much to learn from past mistakes and bad judgement. Certainly, there is much we can do to make tomorrow better than yesterday. But in the constant care of a loving God, we can, like the teams we root for, start anew – not merely once a year, but any time.
Crowds of fans may not cheer when we succeed. Headlines will not proclaim our victories. Championship rings and celebratory parades will not be ours. Indeed, for many of us, the pasts we leave behind and the new beginnings we forge for the future may be known only to ourselves and to God.
And that is good. For we have a far better hope in a God who promises that “whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor. 5:17). What better time than this Easter season to celebrate that all is new, that what is old has passed away and the new has come!
To my favorite team, good luck!
To my sisters and brothers, may you be blessed with many new beginnings every day of your Ordinary Times.
Lucia A. Silecchia is professor of law at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. “On Ordinary Times” is a biweekly column reflecting on the ways to find the sacred in the simple. Email her at .
Lucia A. Silecchia
