March 8/First Tuesday of Lent
The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
Near is the LORD to the brokenhearted, and the crushed in spirit he saves. ~ Ps 34.19
We have soldiered on amid the pandemic’s uncertainties and challenges, waiting for a better day. Then — an unexpected death, a sudden job loss, a shocking betrayal of trust — and we are brought to our knees. The Hebrew conveys it still more vividly: our hearts are not merely broken, but “shattered,” our spirits not only crushed, but “pulverized like dust.” In our grief or anger, we may not feel that God is near at all; we may experience him as completely absent. I am no theologian, and for me the world’s suffering remains a mystery, and at times a challenge to faith. But I do know this, and today’s psalm affirms it: God is with us in the midst of our pain. He walks beside us, no matter how bleak our life’s landscape. The young Jesuit priest Alfred Delp, jailed by the Nazis and enduring the terrible isolation of Tegel prison, experienced this presence profoundly, attesting even as he paced his tiny cell that our God is “the God of personal nearness.” So he is. He is Christ on the cross, powerless in the face of suffering. And he is the resurrected Lord who is with us in our own agonies, stretching out his hand in love and compassion to wipe away our tears and knit up our unraveled souls. It is Christ who wraps us in his consolation as we call out in despair, Christ who envelops us in his peace when we can cry no more, Christ whose rod and staff comfort and guide us as we stumble along the dark way. Our hearts can be shattered and our spirits pulverized by personal tragedy and community rancor, financial struggle and bodily infirmity. Yet in the face of sorrow vast and deep, God is ever near.
Compassionate God, Let me feel your nearness, even in times of confusion and pain. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030822.cfm
To hear Cantori Gregoriani chant “Clamaverunt justi,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47T38xQeGL8
