It felt more like spring, this fresh, warm day in late February. I went out for my usual Saturday morning run. But this day my heart was heavy because the night before I received a text from a former parishioner of mine. Her text read “Please help me. My baby is so sick.” Her 16-yr old daughter, Mia, had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and was on her second round of chemotherapy. Her body was now burdened with tumors on her hips and legs, and the doctors were trying hard to stay ahead of the cancer. But it seemed like they were losing the battle. Mia was a straight-A student, an obedient daughter who played on the softball team. There was no reason that she should have to suffer like this. I prayed with Mia over the phone, but I too felt helpless to do much more. On my run I stopped several times to listen to the birds singing and to feel the gentle breeze and the warmth of the sun on my face. Oh, what a beautiful morning! It felt like resurrection, and yet Mia was still carrying her cross, mocked and tortured by the cruel disease. Frederick Buechner, Presbyterian minister, once wrote that “Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.” The worst thing is painful, horrible, and unfair. But it is not the last thing. The last thing is springtime. I suppose God could have created the world with a single season and a single day. But creation is marked by its cycles – darkness to light, night to day, and winter to spring. This is how we know that the suffering will one day end. And how we know that new life is sure to follow. – – – Fr. Jim