Psalm Reflection: The Fifth Sunday of Lent - Cycle C

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” - Psalms 126

Some scholars have claimed that April Fools’ Day may have origins in the book of Genesis, citing the mistake of Noah in sending the dove out of the Ark before the water had receded. This was believed to have occurred on the first day of the year among the Hebrews, a day that roughly corresponds to April 1st on our modern calendars. It was to become a reminder to whoever forgot about all that God had done for them, to punish them by sending them on some ridiculous errand, like the dove who was sent out with nowhere to land. 

Whatever the origins, April Fool’s Day was my favorite holiday growing up. Most people do not even consider it a holiday, but it was a day of immense joy for me. I would set traps throughout the house, and wait for hilarity to ensue. My favorite prank was putting a rubber band around the handle of the faucet sprayer in the kitchen sink, so that when anyone turned on the sink handle, usually my mother, the water would shoot at them through the faucet sprayer instead. My poor mom.

However, I do not think my family, those who were the subjects of my pranks, had the same excitement about April Fool’s Day as I did. I think they were all excited when it was over. When I got older, I realized that laughing at the expense of others was not kind, and it often made the person who was pranked feel embarrassed, angry, and excluded. So, I stopped pranking people, for the most part at least.

I think we often mistakenly view God as a prankster. We think He causes certain things to happen to us and He delights in teaching us a lesson or giving us what we deserve. Ancient Jews, including many Jews today, view God as an exacter of justice, relishing in punishing the wicked. It is true that we worship a God of justice, but He is also a God of mercy. 

Scripture tells us that God does not cause our suffering. Rather, suffering is the result of our own sin, the sins of others, or the fact that we live in a fallen world that has been corrupted with death and suffering by Original Sin. 

Do not court death by your erring way of life, nor draw to yourselves destruction by the works of your hands. Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being, and the creatures of the world are wholesome; There is not a destructive drug among them nor any domain of Hades on earth, For righteousness is undying. - Wisdom 1:12-15

God is the opposite of an April Fool’s Day prankster. I would inflict suffering on others for my own joy. God takes no delight in our suffering. Rather, He causes only good, true, and beautiful things to happen in our lives. When suffering does occur, He intervenes to bring some good from it. 

He does not delight in our suffering, but He can bring delight from it.

You may hear the words of the Psalm this week and think, “what great things has the Lord done in my life? I am suffering and struggling! I am not filled with joy at all!” It is easy to get so wrapped up in the pain and frustration of our own situation that we fail to see how God could be using it to make us better. We neglect to consider the fact that our lives could have turned out worse and we could have experienced even more suffering if this did not happen and if God were not using it to bring about some greater good. 

In our moments of doubt, frustration, fear, despair, bitterness, resentment, panic, anxiety, and worry, we must remember the words of Scripture:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:8-9

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. - Jeremiah 29:11

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

But as it is written: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,” this God has revealed to us through the Spirit. - 1 Corinthians 2:9-10a

God knows what He is doing. We do not need to be on his wavelength, we simply need to surrender to it and trust that it is better than any plan we could come up with on our own.

There is a God, and you are not Him. You can live a life that is completely and selfishly devoted to doing only what you want to do, but it will inevitably lead to misery. Or, you can turn to the Lord, who will continue to do great things for you, and because you are ready to receive them, you will be filled with lasting joy.

The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for - CCC 27

I am praying for you, please pray for me and my family, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt

This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, April 6th, 2025, the Fifth Sunday of Lent - Cycle C: Psalms 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6.