Lent and Easter Season, Sorrow and Joy
By Fr. Joe Tetlow, SJ
First Lent, then Easter. Jesus told us: You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy (Jn.16:20). We sorrow at the awful grief that humanity inflicts on itself: genocide in Ukraine, millions of abortions, and little children living hungry and lonely.
Sorrow visits us intimately when parents die, or children, or dear friends. We know that Baruch said: In sorrow and tears I watched you go away, but God will give you back to me in joy and gladness forever (Baruch 4:23). The Easter joy is coming, but right now, it's Lent and sorrow.
And then there's our own sorrows, the things we do to ourselves. Especially well into middle age, the character flaws that we ignored or were not successful correcting—they become humiliations and sorrows.
But we have a firm hope. All of these, all of them, will turn into joy. Maybe we'll just wake up dead looking up at Jesus, like the man born blind when Jesus held his face and healed him. Maybe we'll answer Jesus' question (as one fine old spiritual director claimed) when we see Him: He won's ask, Are you sorry? He'll smile and ask, Did you enjoy it?
It's all gift, to begin with. So why not start t enjoying it today? All of this—freedom and plenty, sun and earth, my loves—all of this is His gift, and we can enjoy ourselves even during Lent.