Is the Amaryllis the Perfect Easter Flower for These Times?

I have been having a love affair with the Amaryllis this Lent.

Actually, I didn’t know it was a love affair until I found myself checking daily on every Amaryllis growing in the “plant room” in our Sisters of Providence General Administration Building.

To put this in context, each member of our Leadership Team received an Amaryllis as a gift in Christmas 2024. And then gifts of two new Amaryllis showed up this past Christmas.

When the Amaryllis arrives, it is pretty much a plain, papery brown bulb sitting in a pot of dirt. It even looks a little dead. In fact, the secret to the Amaryllis is that it needs a dormant period, a rest time during which it stores energy and builds strength for the next season.

For the new bulbs, as well as the 2024 bulbs, all they need is a little light and water to “wake up.” Once they “rise,” the speed at which they grow is amazing – sometimes an inch a day.

Even more surprising is that this lifeless, dormant bulb produces vibrant, towering blooms. Unlike many flowers that blossom on delicate stems, the Amaryllis sends up a thick, hollow, almost architectural stalk.

Of course, it has to. It has to push through the tough outer skin of the bulb to reach the light. The flower it generates is huge and heavy, yet the stalk holds firm.

If treated properly, the bulb can be resurrected, surviving and thriving sometimes for decades! Talk about the ultimate metaphor for Easter. It is as if they are blossoming hope.

We need more than a little dose of hope right now. We cannot seem to agree on the kind of people we want to be and the kind of world we are going to leave behind. We are tired of the violence, of the division; we want to be free of the way things are.

I imagine Jesus felt that way. Did he not pray in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39).

A loving, provident God does will our good. Let us remember that the same power that enabled Jesus to rise from the dead is still at work — in the Amaryllis, in you and in me.

Let’s pray that the persistence and the resilience of the Amaryllis arise in us this Easter. Provident God, when we feel overwhelmed, remind us of the power that turns lifeless bulbs into radiant flowers.

Amen. Alleluia. Happy Easter!