Daily Retreat 06/28/08
2008 Jun 28 Sat: Irenaeus, bp, mt M
Lam 2: 2. 10-14. 18-19/ Ps 73(74): 1b-2. 3-5. 6-7. 20-21/ Mt 8: 5-17
From today’s readings: “Your prophets had for you false and specious visions; they did not lay bare your guilt, to avert your fate; they beheld for you in vision false and misleading portents..... Lord, forget not the souls of Your poor ones.... Lord, I am not worthy to have You enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”
Lamentations
Bemoaning the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BC, the five chapters of the Book of Lamentations could hardly qualify as anyone’s favorite scripture passages. Indeed, following on yesterday’s first reading which recounted the Fall of Jerusalem at the end of the Second Book of Kings, today is the only day of the year that the lectionary prescribes verses from the woeful book of Lamentations!
In the ancient mindset, the fall of a nation to an invading army was generally equivalent to the capitulation of the vanquished nation’s gods to the evidently superior gods of the invaders. When Jerusalem fell, however, the prophets helped the people recognize that their defeat was not due to weakness of their true God or any invincible might of the Babylonian idols - on the contrary, Jerusalem fell because God Himself “has consumed without pity all the dwellings of Jacob; He has torn down in His anger the fortresses of daughter Judah; He has brought to the ground in dishonor her king and her princes.” The tragedy was therefore correctly recognized as a divine chastisement as God simply allowed His people to experience the terrible consequences of their sins of abandoning Him. That meant that the people could only be saved by returning to hope in the Lord with their confession and contrition (see Lamentations 1:18, 3:21-36.40.58, 4:22, 5:20-22).
What do we do with tragedy in our lives? The point of the book of Lamentations is NOT that all catastrophes are direct personal punishment for sins (although that was clearly the case when Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 BC), but rather, the book proves that when tragedy strikes, rather than abandoning God, that is the best time with humble, contrite hearts to embrace Him as our comfort and salvation.
Lam 2: 2. 10-14. 18-19/ Ps 73(74): 1b-2. 3-5. 6-7. 20-21/ Mt 8: 5-17
From today’s readings: “Your prophets had for you false and specious visions; they did not lay bare your guilt, to avert your fate; they beheld for you in vision false and misleading portents..... Lord, forget not the souls of Your poor ones.... Lord, I am not worthy to have You enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”
Lamentations
Bemoaning the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BC, the five chapters of the Book of Lamentations could hardly qualify as anyone’s favorite scripture passages. Indeed, following on yesterday’s first reading which recounted the Fall of Jerusalem at the end of the Second Book of Kings, today is the only day of the year that the lectionary prescribes verses from the woeful book of Lamentations!
In the ancient mindset, the fall of a nation to an invading army was generally equivalent to the capitulation of the vanquished nation’s gods to the evidently superior gods of the invaders. When Jerusalem fell, however, the prophets helped the people recognize that their defeat was not due to weakness of their true God or any invincible might of the Babylonian idols - on the contrary, Jerusalem fell because God Himself “has consumed without pity all the dwellings of Jacob; He has torn down in His anger the fortresses of daughter Judah; He has brought to the ground in dishonor her king and her princes.” The tragedy was therefore correctly recognized as a divine chastisement as God simply allowed His people to experience the terrible consequences of their sins of abandoning Him. That meant that the people could only be saved by returning to hope in the Lord with their confession and contrition (see Lamentations 1:18, 3:21-36.40.58, 4:22, 5:20-22).
What do we do with tragedy in our lives? The point of the book of Lamentations is NOT that all catastrophes are direct personal punishment for sins (although that was clearly the case when Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 BC), but rather, the book proves that when tragedy strikes, rather than abandoning God, that is the best time with humble, contrite hearts to embrace Him as our comfort and salvation.
posted by FrPitstick | 6/27/2008
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