The beauty of the tournament lies in the volatility of its outcomes.

Sure, Christmas is pretty great but I don’t know what Andy Williams was talking about – late March is by far The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

The NCAA Tournament is upon us and the madness is as palpable as ever. I heard the quote above from a friend as I took in the games this weekend. He described that phrase as being the best description of the tournament he has ever heard.

In many respects, I agree. The pageantry and raw emotion of this event is something nearly unparalleled in sport. Seldom do you see such continuous and varied instances in which teams, regardless of talent and rank, find themselves taken by the waves of craziness that occur as the games come down to the end. The victories are sheer ecstasy and the defeats, pure agony. Volatile seems to be very fitting adjective to describe these games.

While basketball fans around the nation and even the world revel in the glory of the tournament, this time of the year marks another very special occasion for the Christian faithful. With the annual Lenten season coming to a close, the Church has entered into Holy Week and has begun preparing for the days commemorating Christ’s death and Resurrection through the Paschal Mystery.

There are perhaps too many themes of relevance occurring within the Paschal Mystery to count but one that I believe is an interesting dynamic that should be considered is the concept of outcomes and consequences leading to Jesus’ death and Resurrection. Whether it was the personal decisions of Christ or the various individuals influencing his life that led to his arrest, it is clear that each decision was a part of a grand and complex plan that was masterfully crafted by God.

This is certainly a tricky statement for one to grapple with because as we live in this world, we find our humanity – and mortality – in the basic free will that guides the actions we make and the outcomes that come of it. This is true for all of us today and it remained as such for for Judas and Herod and Pontius Pilate.

But, let us not forget about the Hand that guides those actions. As the Catechism points out: “Jesus’ violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances…For the sake of accomplishing His plan of salvation, God committed the acts that flowed from their blindness.”

Thousands of years removed from the events themselves, it is difficult today to discern the volatility of Christ’s situation in terms of the uncertainty of its outcomes. Unlike the basketball games we watch, this story’s conclusion is not up for grabs. It isn’t hanging in the balance with seconds ticking away and there aren’t going to be mistakes made that will thwart the whole thing from coming to fruition. This game has certainly been won.

However, very much like the tournament, a new kind of volatility arises in the inevitable suffering that comes with the process of death and defeat. There is immense joy and glory that awaits those who win games this time in March. Their experiences will remain fresh in the minds of the participants and the outcomes will galvanize whole communities under a singular banner.

But just as circumstances of high risk yield high reward, they also yield high suffering in the face of defeat. Perhaps it is in these times, as time expires and blank stares spread across the faces of the losing teams, that the greatest glories can be felt.

Truly, this time is made wonderful through the masterful victories for the lucky teams that stay alive. But it is made holy through the crestfallen brothers that retreat to the locker rooms as they embrace their final defeat. May all those who face this difficult time rejoice in the fact that at least now, the volatility of the outcomes have ceased. Now all we have to do is just thank God for the ultimate Victory.