March 16/Fourth Monday of Lent
Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. ~ Ps 30.5, 11
Nightfall sometimes seems to be on an endless loop, and mourning the order of the day. As we look around our world, we can find innumerable reasons to weep, with events both far away and here at home leaving us helpless and worried. Some of this, of course, is a matter of our human proclivity towards negativity. Fueled by social media algorithms that feed our innate pessimism, we minimize progress and focus on setbacks, bypass the good news and zero in on the crime report, point out flaws rather than celebrate strengths. But much of our anxiety is real, whether it concerns world events that we can’t influence or broken relationships and promises in our personal lives. Today’s verses may help lift up our faltering spirits. The psalmist doesn’t deny the surrounding darkness of life: 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 — as they do for us, too. But, buoyed by an infinite trust in God, he declares that joy eclipses suffering, that light conquers darkness, that love is stronger than death. Yes, as night comes, weeping often takes up space in our homes and hearts (and the concrete meaning of the Hebrew verb here is to “stay overnight, to lodge”). But in the morning, as the psalmist says so vividly, so concisely: “shouts of joy.” Life will stir again; dawn will break forth. These Lenten days of penance and sorrow can seem spiritually dark and long, but God will ultimately transmute our waiting and wailing into a dance of joy, as we wait in blessed hope for the Easter dawn.
Fill me with your joy, O generous LORD, even amidst the sufferings of the day, and grant that I may share it with others as we hasten towards your kingdom. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031626.cfm
To hear the Happy Goodmans sing “Joy in the Morning,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnjjTeV4Fq4&list=RDWnjjTeV4Fq4&start_radio=1
