The Coming of Spring: A Call To Joy!

“I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrow” (Jeremiah 31:13). This reading, given to us on a Lenten Saturday in March, comforts us: Just as the spring rains begin to fall, the promise of Easter’s comfort and joy will soon be upon us.

For some people, Lent is a glum time. Perhaps a childhood memory of deprivation, with no real understanding of the reason for the sacrifice, clouds their memory of Lent. Perhaps for some Catholics, thoughts of the terrible suffering and death of Christ overshadows and depresses their Lenten observance. For some, after a purposeful march to the altar to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday, the discipline of Lent fades.

Not so for the Christian steward. The steward remains faithful to the season, but he also remains faithful to joy. After all, what is Lent but a reminder of our salvation? What is Lent but the harbinger of the Life that conquered all death? It’s not an accident that Lent occurs just as we begin to realize, at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, that once again, the light and color of spring are returning.

As Lent begins, we may struggle through cold and ice, in our world and in our hearts. But as Easter nears, the delicate leaves of crocuses and daffodils speak of Resurrection. Lent demands discipline, but it also inspires joy. As Christians, we know how the story ends!

Source:  ICSC March 2013