It is Tuesday morning and we are just emerging from an intense – and joyful five days. (We celebrated the Triduum, were invited to the home of our former pastor for Mass on Sunday, and then a Mass of the Resurrection last night.) I got to thinking that we had better stop going to church so often or it might rub off! At least I now have time for a posting.
This year, a passage from Gerald May's The Dark Night of the Soul captured the meaning of the narrative threaded through Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil:
“The dark night is a profoundly good thing. It is an ongoing spiritual process in which we are liberated from attachments and compulsions and empowered to live and love more freely. Some times this letting go of old ways is painful, occasionally even devastating. But this is not why the night is called “dark” The darkness of the nigh implies nothing sinister, only that the liberation takes place in hidden ways, beneath our knowledge and understanding. It happens mysteriously, in secret and beyond our conscious control.”
Experiencing the narrative in terms of liberation brought joy into our Easter celebration.
Our youngest son, Matt, gave us the additional gift of his trumpet during the Vigil. His four years at James Madison University have developed his skills to a high peak, adding to our joy and pride.
I usually have my iPod set to shuffle songs. Sometimes it picks out songs that seem highly relevant. This weekend I heard Hank Williams’ I Saw the Light and began to reflect. After the blind man saw the light he was filled with joy – but he still had to see the path ahead and then walk it. (Psalm 119:105) . We can’t do this on Easter alone. We need to get to Pentecost and learn how to do “the next right thing” under guidance from the Spirit.
Happy Easter. everyone.
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