March 31/Holy Saturday
You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills,
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. ~ Ps 104. 10, 12-13, 24
After the heartbroken emptiness of Good Friday, we celebrate the fullness of new life. Yesterday, broken dishes, reproaches, vinegar and gall. Today, the unfolding splendor of creation, retold: flowing springs, birds singing in the branches, the earth brimming with the fruit of the works of God. This is how it can be for us, too. We become depleted by our difficulties, discouraged by our failures, worn down by the demands each day seems to place on us. But it is precisely those empty interior spaces, carved by pain, that create room for the inundating joy. Over the past forty days, many of us may have tried to be intentional about self-denial and penance. Perhaps we gave up something that blocked our path to God (social media, or indulgence in food or drink); perhaps we tried to get to church more often or undertake spiritual reading; perhaps we made an extra gift to a charity striving to end hunger or combat poverty. Perhaps life itself provided enough crosses for us to carry without our having to seek them out. Whatever the case, we have pushed ourselves, as much as we were able, to go into the darkness and confront what is there: the imperfections, the flaws, the brokenness. We surrender them all to God, and offer ourselves and our emptiness to him, as Christ did. And then, miraculously, those dead spaces become alive again, animated by love, gratitude, and hope, as we rejoice in the glory and majesty of the risen Christ.
Almighty God, who shows us definitively on this day that love is stronger than death, fill my heart with the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/033118.cfm
The songs are finished. A joyous Easter to all!
