Roll Down, Justice!

Just like a deer that craves streams of water,
    my whole being craves you, God.
My whole being thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When will I come and see God’s face?
My tears have been my food both day and night,
    as people constantly questioned me,
    “Where’s your God now?”

But I remember these things as I bare my soul:
    how I made my way to the mighty one’s abode,
    to God’s own house,
        with joyous shouts and thanksgiving songs—
        a huge crowd celebrating the festival!
Why, I ask myself, are you so depressed?
    Why are you so upset inside?
Hope in God!
    Because I will again give him thanks,
        my saving presence and my God.

My whole being is depressed.
    That’s why I remember you
    from the land of Jordan and Hermon,
        from Mount Mizar.
Deep called to deep at the noise of your waterfalls;
    all your massive waves surged over me.
By day the Lord commands his faithful love;
    by night his song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God, my solid rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
        Why do I have to walk around,
        sad, oppressed by enemies?”
With my bones crushed, my foes make fun of me,
    constantly questioning me: “Where’s your God now?”

Why, I ask myself, are you so depressed?
    Why are you so upset inside?
        Hope in God!
        Because I will again give him thanks,
        my saving presence and my God.

— Psalm 42 (CEB)

Holy Week is a time to mourn when love is crucified on the cross of fear and hate. We bring the story of Jesus into reflection with the story of our world in which this continues. And yet, that is not the end of the story. Our Lenten journey heightens and culminates in a journey to the waters of baptismal renewal in the dark of night. The earliest Christian communities saw this time of the year as the ultimate time for baptisms because this was when Christ died and was raised — just as we die to the old and rise again to new life through our baptisms. Drawing on the ancient Vigil ritual that incorporates Light, Water, Word and Table, we will go on a pilgrimage as traveling companions through the church, offering us a deeply moving experience of our faith story then and now.