Teresa is now the proud owner (or at least I choose to think so — she just gurgles) of a new pair of bunny slippers, as well as several outfits with bunnies prominently displayed. She also has a fuzzy yellow coat with a duck bill, and pants with a duck appliquéd on the seat. The Easter bunny visited our house, now for the 12th year in a row, hiding the eggs we dyed and leaving plastic eggs filled with candy and other small gifts in their place. The unnaturally large rabbit even made a surprise appearance at our family Easter dinner, even though Teresa and Frank were the only ones under 10 years old there. Of course, even with the egg-hunting and chocolate-finding festivities to do first thing Easter morning, we still made it to 8 a.m. Mass, and as good as the Easter candy was, most of the family was looking more forward to enjoying the treats we had sacrificed during Lent. That led Frank to ask one day leading up to Easter what Teresa had given up for Lent; nothing, I said, pointing out that, having not been baptized, she technically isn’t Catholic yet, never mind that she really can’t give anything up, seeing as how all she eats is milk, and she can’t yet get anything she wants without someone giving it to her. Even after her baptism this month, it will be a few years before she’s able to grasp the concept of sacrifice. That’s all right, because we can all learn a little bit about the joy of new life just by her presence among us. After all, her fuzzy little head is at least as soft as any duckling. It’s no accident that Easter falls in the spring, at least in the northern hemisphere, where Jesus lived, died and rose again. The Gospels tell us that Jesus’ death and resurrection happened at the time of the Passover, which falls in the spring. Both holidays come when flowers are starting to bloom, when the air is starting to warm, when the leaves are starting to unfurl. It’s the season when animals usually bear their young, new generations to share in the joy of God’s creation. The trappings of Easter — the eggs and bunnies and baby ducks — are all symbols of new life, made to remind us that God is promising us a new life, one that will last forever, just like Santa Claus reminds us that at Christmas, God gives us the biggest and the best gift. So the desert season of Lent is over; now it is time for the sweet (with chocolate bunnies and all) rejoicing.