Sprouting Through The Cracks

A Reflection on the Psalm for April 7th, 2019:
Fifth Sunday of Lent

Psalm 126

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy. R.

Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. R.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the desert of the Negev. May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. R.

Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. R.

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We’re in a low season for the Church. Sometimes I feel like the Church herself, and all of the Body of Christ, is in a season of mourning. I could say that my generation is weeping going out to sow what we didn’t reap – the results of the brokenness of the past – but as the Body of Christ, we all own that. We all bear those wounds. However, I see in this psalm a message of tremendous joy. We are in the season of mourning, but even in our mourning we’re going out and sowing the seeds of faith. The message remains that God will make good on that work done according to His will. Our humble seeds sown with our own tears will sprout up into sheaves – wheat – more of the Body of Christ.

"We are in the season of mourning, but even in our mourning we’re going out and sowing the seeds of faith."

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It is remarkable that as we learn and see the darkness that has attached itself to the Church, infiltrated like a virus attacks our bodies, that we also see hope and joy peeking through. In our own Archdiocese, we can see new growth all around us. Parishes across the province are running the Alpha program and helping to bring people into a deep relationship with Christ. Divine Renovation is changing the way we see ourselves as Church and is equipping and empowering the laity, clergy, and parish staff to work together towards the renewal of the Church through evangelization, education, and leadership. The Atlantic School of Theology has a special Diploma program focused entirely on the New Evangelization – the aim of which is to equip their students to break through the concrete of modernism so that seeds of faith can be sown. Chalice Canada is working with sponsors to reach into the lives of those living on the margins in communities around the world, enabling us to see each other as a true family in the Body of Christ. Those are just a few examples of the movement of the Holy Spirit in our Archdiocese alone. Look in almost any city in the world and you’ll see the signs of new life, green shoots sprouting up in the cracks of the concrete.

I’ve often heard the expression that life will find a way. We see it in abandoned towns where nature swallows up empty houses, breaks up the paved roads, and slowly the outlines of humanity are softened by the work of nature. How much more will Life Itself as revealed in the Body of Christ do the same? Life is finding a way. Christ is making a way. As we come through the end of Lent, this Psalm reminds us that even Life Himself died, but that that death had a purpose and a meaning, and from that death, Life rose up and gathered to Himself all those who participated in that Life. We walk towards the Cross and the Tomb, mourning and weeping. But I will see you on the other side, O Zion, and our mouths will be full of laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy.
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​Stephanie Potter

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