A Sunday Thought About Sunday to Start the Week Off Right
Lent can sometimes feel like it's descended upon us. Now, on this second Sunday of Lent, we're pretty much completely covered. If we've put in the preparation and bothered to do our best to stick with our special prayers, fasting, and almsgiving, Lent has enveloped us and changed our "normal" day into one that bears the marks of penitential practices appropriate to the Season. Far in the distance we might glimpse Easter - but we're a long way from there. With weeks to go, Lent can sometimes be daunting.
But yesterday's morning sky reminded me of what awaits us as we work our way through Lent. The day began gray, but not with that monolithic gray blanket that signals that a dreary, perhaps wet period awaits us. Instead, the sky was “textured” with clouds pressed together, rolling by at a steady clip. Those individual clouds looked like they could spread apart at some point. Between them would appear first thin seams sporting white, light gray, and what looked like pale blue highlights, foretelling brighter things to come. Yes, there’s pale blue now; and distinctly brighter whites. Can blue skies be far behind? Sure enough, within a half an hour or so, the seams part, slowly at first, then more rapidly, to unveil the sun in all its glory, beaming down on bright blue skies dotted with white patches.
Which brings us back to this second Sunday of Lent: "Sun-Day." In the Latin right of the Catholic Church, Sundays don't count as part of Lent. They're "little Easters" and so we don't hold rigorously to our fasting and other penitential practices. They're like those little breaks in the clouds. And it's OK, even good, to stop and stare, even revel, in those breaks. In fact, it's important that we do. To do so helps us to understand what the Lord's Day - Sunday - can be for us when we observe it properly.
As God "rested" on the seventh day after creating our universe, so He tells us to rest on Sundays. Few of us really pay much heed to this these days. But if you've read the Old Testament, you know how serious a matter the Sabbath was to God and His Chosen People. No servile work on the Sabbath. Period. Of course, in the Gospels, we find Our Lord chiding the Pharisees from time to time for their strict observances. But let's not make the mistake of thinking that the Sabbath ought not be held sacred in our lives. For sure, we're not to behave like hypocrites; we're not to spend our time looking for those actions of others which appear to fall short in the observance of the Sabbath or God's Law. But don't make the mistake of thinking that Jesus efforts to give us proper understanding of our observance of the law excuses us from keeping holy the Lord's Day.
And so with Sunday now bringing a special, more palpable respite from daily life during Lent (assuming you're taking Lent seriously, of course), we can reinvigorate our keeping the Lord's Day holy. Sunday arrives in the midst of this long forty days' stretch of penitential observances to lighten things up a bit for us. We spot the highlights between the clouds and know that soon those clouds will part, once for all. And when finally Easter arrives, that greatest Sun-day will shine with a brilliance that reminds us of the the day when Our Lord conquered not only sin, but death itself. Think of it: The Son of God condescended to accept the humiliation of becoming human like us. He then suffered terribly and died for each one of us - not just "humanity" but you and me. And with His Resurrection, He gave us the hope of rising ourselves, both above our sinful ways in this life and eventually, in our glorified bodies on the Last Day. Such is the hope that comes to us on Easter, and such is the hope that can and should come into our sometimes dreary and difficult lives on each and every Sunday.
If only we would observe the Lord's Day faithfully. and remember what His Resurrection means for us, how much better our lives in this world would be! Our Sundays will again become that wonderful gift that God intended: not just a day's rest with our family and friends, away from the daily cares of this world, but also a day to rekindle the hope that will lead us one day to rest in Him. Could Sunday - the Sundays of Lent and every Sunday throughout the year - be any more glorious?
But yesterday's morning sky reminded me of what awaits us as we work our way through Lent. The day began gray, but not with that monolithic gray blanket that signals that a dreary, perhaps wet period awaits us. Instead, the sky was “textured” with clouds pressed together, rolling by at a steady clip. Those individual clouds looked like they could spread apart at some point. Between them would appear first thin seams sporting white, light gray, and what looked like pale blue highlights, foretelling brighter things to come. Yes, there’s pale blue now; and distinctly brighter whites. Can blue skies be far behind? Sure enough, within a half an hour or so, the seams part, slowly at first, then more rapidly, to unveil the sun in all its glory, beaming down on bright blue skies dotted with white patches.
Which brings us back to this second Sunday of Lent: "Sun-Day." In the Latin right of the Catholic Church, Sundays don't count as part of Lent. They're "little Easters" and so we don't hold rigorously to our fasting and other penitential practices. They're like those little breaks in the clouds. And it's OK, even good, to stop and stare, even revel, in those breaks. In fact, it's important that we do. To do so helps us to understand what the Lord's Day - Sunday - can be for us when we observe it properly.
As God "rested" on the seventh day after creating our universe, so He tells us to rest on Sundays. Few of us really pay much heed to this these days. But if you've read the Old Testament, you know how serious a matter the Sabbath was to God and His Chosen People. No servile work on the Sabbath. Period. Of course, in the Gospels, we find Our Lord chiding the Pharisees from time to time for their strict observances. But let's not make the mistake of thinking that the Sabbath ought not be held sacred in our lives. For sure, we're not to behave like hypocrites; we're not to spend our time looking for those actions of others which appear to fall short in the observance of the Sabbath or God's Law. But don't make the mistake of thinking that Jesus efforts to give us proper understanding of our observance of the law excuses us from keeping holy the Lord's Day.
And so with Sunday now bringing a special, more palpable respite from daily life during Lent (assuming you're taking Lent seriously, of course), we can reinvigorate our keeping the Lord's Day holy. Sunday arrives in the midst of this long forty days' stretch of penitential observances to lighten things up a bit for us. We spot the highlights between the clouds and know that soon those clouds will part, once for all. And when finally Easter arrives, that greatest Sun-day will shine with a brilliance that reminds us of the the day when Our Lord conquered not only sin, but death itself. Think of it: The Son of God condescended to accept the humiliation of becoming human like us. He then suffered terribly and died for each one of us - not just "humanity" but you and me. And with His Resurrection, He gave us the hope of rising ourselves, both above our sinful ways in this life and eventually, in our glorified bodies on the Last Day. Such is the hope that comes to us on Easter, and such is the hope that can and should come into our sometimes dreary and difficult lives on each and every Sunday.
If only we would observe the Lord's Day faithfully. and remember what His Resurrection means for us, how much better our lives in this world would be! Our Sundays will again become that wonderful gift that God intended: not just a day's rest with our family and friends, away from the daily cares of this world, but also a day to rekindle the hope that will lead us one day to rest in Him. Could Sunday - the Sundays of Lent and every Sunday throughout the year - be any more glorious?
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee,
Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world
Comments