Story and Meaning

Working with my mom in her Catholic bookstore business for almost 28 years has taught me so much about our Faith and traditions. Day in and day out I realize that just within the Catholic Faith alone there is so much more. So much more to learn about the History of the Church and the rituals and the Saints and Vatican II and the Pope and types of prayer and spirituality. We are a Faith rich in symbols and story and meaning. There are so many people who have their stories and so many books that can enrich and draw us into a deeper relationship with God and thus a deeper and more meaningful relationship with others.
This Lent and Easter Season is the first time my mother has actually stayed in Florida with my father long enough to cause me to have to change her beautiful displays to follow the season. She has taught us all that displays should fulfill 3 criteria. First, they should be laid out in odd numbers. Second, they should be big. And third, they should tell a story. As a friend of mine once said when she helped on the displays while Jean was out, "the only story these displays tell is the one of how badly she's missed." But, I have to say that one more time she has handed down, not the talent unfortunately, but lessons of the story and meaning behind all her colors and flowers and merchandising. The Dogwood to remind us of the Crucifixion with the legend that since it may have been used for the cross, Christ promised it would never grow large enough for such again, with its blossoms in the shape of a cross and the four ends marked in brown to signify blood stains and the center resembling a crown of thorns. Purple material representing the royalty of Christ as King. The red for Passion Sunday and the white for Easter, the sign of purity, as well as the trumpet looking Lilies, the sign of innocence and hope and life. I had to pay attention to which books had the appropriate Scripture and meaning, something my mother has always done as second nature because she has lived her life as it pertains to the life of the Church, to a life with Jesus Christ.
May this Spring season, this time of Resurrection and new life, bring us all closer to living our lives as they pertain to Jesus Christ Our Hope. There is so much more.