Last spring, a restless robin caught my attention outside my office window. The bird flew back and forth for days, dancing to his own rhythm. The robin peered into a series of windows, seemingly with urgency and worry. Perhaps he was protecting a new nest from predators. Maybe he was making sure the fledglings would find food, shelter, and be able to fly after their days in a nest. Maybe he was taking a break from his new duties as a parent. Perhaps he was there to capture my attention, to help me reflect more deeply about our common nature.
The bird at my window helps me reflect on our role as priests in the Easter season. We enter springtime for our people who have been born again in baptism. We educate our very young to see beyond simple bread and wine to the glorious presence of Christ Jesus. We are also nervous about our young. We feed and nourish those coming to Easter sacraments. We fret about how they will carry on the mission of the Church when the scent of Chrism finally fades away. As priests, we become like protective parents who wait for the next generation to understand and live the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
Every year on Easter Saturday, our deacons in the Congregation of Holy Cross are ordained priests. As I stare at this robin, I see myself anxious about the young priests leaving the nest of seminary and taking flight on their own. I will not fret like my winged friend, but I will open my heart and pray for the men who will be sent in mission to the four corners of the world. They will soar because they know they possess the gift of the Holy Spirit and the support of us who have pathed their way. I will be here in our retirement house ready to welcome them if they should break a wing or find people’s sorrow overwhelming.
In the Easter season, our religious community also celebrates jubilees. We will gather at Eucharist to honor men who have served 25 to 65 years of ministry. A few years ago, we gathered to recognize 75 years of service for one admired priest. As I reflect on my own role as religious superior of our retirement and healthcare facility, perhaps this is where I see myself connecting with the fret of the robin. As I celebrate these commitments in the Congregation of Holy Cross and in our universal priesthood, I also see both their readiness and their anxiety about being birthed into eternal life. The longer I am here, the more I see that our lives reflect the nestlings, anxious about leaving the nest of life.
We leave nests all through life as well as helping others do the same. Transition and change become the foundation of the Easter season and the life we lead as priests. From year to year, we offer sacraments. However, we are powerless over how people will serve others in the world. How they will love is not up to us. How Christ will cease their hearts, we may never know or understand. How they will surrender to the Holy Spirit we simply cannot predict. We also may sit at the bedside of those who take their last breath on earth so to be born again in heaven. Such experiences form us as priests in ways we do not even realize. Allowing God to welcome us home is quite a journey of faith for the individual, but also for us who console the grieving still on earth. No matter the transitions we accompany or the changes of nests we experience as clergy, the gift of the Holy Spirit remains with us. The Holy Spirit offers us what we need, no matter the losses we leave behind, no matter our fear to move from the security of the nests from which we fly.
On Thursday, May 8, 2025, shortly after 12:00 p.m., we received word of white smoke at the Vatican. Our elders gathered in our library to wait for a new pope. The sun was bursting into the room, and while the world waited, one red cardinal perched on a branch outside the picture window. The red bird peered into the window. I took a deep breath and rejoiced in the beauty of God’s care for the world in every moment of change.
Let us pray:
For people who struggle to accept change. When life’s transitions get the best of us, and we desire to live only in the past. When we hesitate to breathe into the moment and the future. When we think the past held all truth and personal identity. When we cling to matters that we can no longer control. May God allow our hearts the freedom to let go of all we cling to, all we hold as secure and solid. May God reveal in our hearts the courage to accept what comes next.
We pray to the Lord.
For people who have received the Easter Sacraments of Initiation. For all who breathe into the mystery of the Holy Spirit and know the merciful presence of the Risen Christ. May we all trust that God leads us into our next ways of life. May we trust solely in the miracle that God claims us, loves us, and calls us his own.
We pray to the Lord.
For people who have served within the Church for generations. May God instill a new freedom within each heart in the Easter Season. May we not stumble in our efforts to live the beauty and truth of our lives in every place and time. May we leave every nest of comfort to explore our gifts in service of people, of those who most need us.
We pray to the Lord.
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About:
Rev. Ronald Patrick Raab, C.S.C., serves as religious superior of Holy Cross House, our retirement and medical facility at Notre Dame, Indiana. He is an award-winning author, blogger, and visual artist. Learn more: ronaldraab.com
Artwork:
Fr. Ron created this image of a red bird in 2017. Fr. Ron’s artwork has been published in parishes, dioceses, and ecumenical settings around the world.
Provided by Rev. Ronald Raab, C.S.C., March 2026.
