March 12/Fourth Monday of Lent
For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. ~ Ps 30.6
Sometimes the joy just plain disappears from our lives. Work isn’t going well, or there is a family problem, or we’re stuck on a project, or we’re experiencing one of those disconnects that sometimes happens in a marriage or a friendship. The night falls and the dark surrounds us and we come close to despair. We get drawn so deep into the maze of worries and troubles that we can’t even begin to find our way out; we have the lost the thread that will carry us back to wholeness. We may pay lip service to the truth that change is a constant and that joy and sorrow come through our lives in waves, but we don’t always embrace it emotionally or spiritually. Today’s joyful verses are a wonderful antidote to our tendency to join the Sackcloth and Ashes Squad. The psalmist doesn’t deny the negatives: for him, the hostility of enemies and the dangers of the pit. He even acknowledges that weeping and lamentation get the upper hand at times. But, buoyed by an infinite trust in God, he also proclaims his belief that joy eclipses suffering, that light conquers darkness, that love is stronger than death. Yes, as night comes, weeping often takes a room in our houses (and the concrete meaning of the Hebrew verb here is to “stay overnight, to lodge”); but in the morning, as the psalmist says vividly, concretely: “shouts of joy.” These Lenten days of penance and sorrow can seem dark and long, but God will ultimately transmute our waiting and wailing into a dance of joy, as we look hopefully towards the Easter dawn.
O God of tears and laughter, Bestow upon me a hopeful patience as night falls and I await the morning’s shouts of joy. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031218.cfm
To hear “Morning Has Broken,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZAsfB1Np-8
