Do not be sad, and do not weep”–
for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.
We know that sadness is sometimes appropriate. Sometimes we weep from the rivers by Babylon as we remember Zion. We weep for exile in the land of sin and death and for all that that entails. Sadness helps us to enter into sympathy and union with the sufferings of the world. Jesus himself is overwhelmed by sadness as he embraces the suffering of the whole world. But the good news of God is ultimately good. Our overall response to it should be joy. The cross is still a part of our reality. But already we see it in the light of the resurrection.
Do not be saddened this day,
for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!
The message of God is not ultimately to condemn us for our past (cf. Joh. 3:17). It is to free us for the future and to open the way to everlasting life. We must be like the children in the marketplace the dance for the flute and mourn for the dirge. We are called to listen, to open our ears. The dirge persists, we are all called to bear our crosses, but more and more we hear the joyful notes of the flute even now.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice (cf. Phi. 4:4).
Even as we endure our crosses, as we mourn in response to the dirge which still plays, we begin to hear the melody transformed. We are surprised that we can hear the flute of joy even from the cross.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church (cf. Col. 1:24).
We cannot rely on our own strength. If we depend on our own money bag, sack or sandals we will find we don't have enough. The message of joy will seem sorrowful because it will seem impossible and overwhelming. If we cannot find joy this morning perhaps we are trying to create it within ourselves by our own strength and stratagems.
Let us listen again:
Do not be saddened this day,
for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!
We do not have our own strength and so rejoice in the LORD. We rejoice in the LORD and receive strength from him. He himself feeds us with "rich foods" and "sweet drinks" in the Eucharist. He himself fills our celebration with great joy and empowers us to understand all the words that are expounded to us.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye;
His words open our minds to wisdom and our hearts to joy. It is a joy which we can only receive. We are the sort of people that hear that we are supposed to be joyful, realize we aren't, and mourn and weep because of that. Instead we turn to the LORD. Even before we ourselves feel like rejoicing on a natural level we can listen for the joyful flute. Even though the dirge still plays we can hear it if we simply listen. Rejoicing can be our strength today. It must.
Truly I’m so happy.
I always have my way…
How could I not be joyful
And not show my cheerfulness ?
My joy is to love suffering.
I smile while shedding tears.
I accept with gratitude
The thorns mingled with the flowers. - Therese of Lisieux
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