Lent, Day Fifty-Three, Easter Saturday

Lent, Day Fifty-Three, Easter Saturday
Somehow joy is much harder to express than sadness. It seems that we have more words for sickness than for health, more for abnormal conditions than for normal conditions. Does this mean there is less joy in life than sadness? Perhaps. But it is also possible that joy is in fact a deeper, more intimate, more "normal" condition than sadness, and pain and therefore harder to articulate.

For Jesus, joy is clearly a deeper and more truthful state of life than sorrow. He promises joy as the sign of new life...

Jesus connects joy with the promise of seeing him again. In this sense, it is similar to the joy we experience when a dear friend returns after a long absence. But Jesus makes it clear that joy is more than that. It is "his own joy," flowing from the love he shares with his heavenly Father and leading to completion.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
Lifesigns: Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ecstasy in Christian Perspective, pg 109

Scripture:
⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.John 15:5-11

PRAYER
Loving God, our Father, let my life be a witness to your commandments, let me not be as a withered branch that is thrown into the fire and burned. May I pray to you in joy and in times of adversity. Amen.

EASTER ACTION
No greater gift of love could be demonstrated than the death of our Lord on the cross in reparation for our sins. Perhaps then Eastertide is a better occasion for giving gifts than Christmas. In celebration of Christ's resurrection, give small gifts of commemoration.