April 14/Tuesday in the Octave of Easter
Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. ~ Ps 33.20
Participating in church services, book clubs, happy hours on Zoom. Streaming Pure Barre or Core Power yoga classes online (and hoping the kids or the dog don’t walk in). FaceTiming friends and family across the country, or across town. Checking in, checking in, checking in. How are you managing? Do you need me to pick you up some groceries? Are you getting fresh air? Do you have any good book or movie recommendations? Our relationships may feel attenuated as we conduct them in cyberspace, docking regularly at the waystations provided by FaceBook and e-mail, text and Google Meets. But we find comfort, too, in these virtual communities as we wait for the light of springtime, wait for the next chapter, wait for the LORD. The theme of waiting is voiced often in the Psalms: the poet of Psalm 62 sings “For God alone my soul waits in silence,” and Psalm 130’s singer echoes back, “my soul waits for the LORD.” But the grammar of our verse today — by providential timing — is clearly, emphatically plural. Not my soul, but our soul waits for the LORD; not mine alone, but God is our help and our shield. The demands of these days call us to transcend the petty boundaries of our self-regard and reach out to others. And the losses and suffering that we endure, whether the loss of human presence, the loss of economic security, the loss of health and of life itself, we endure together. As we ride out this storm, we are reminded daily of how precious are those human relationships, those gatherings, those communities, to our flourishing. And we continue to reach out, to check in, to touch base, all the time waiting for a better day.
Loving God, Gather us all into your embrace and keep us connected to one another in the midst of our trials. Amen.
To hear the London Fox Taize Choir sing “Our Soul Waits for the Lord,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOr0BulerXk
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041420.cfm
