Homily for the Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent – Words of Hope and Consolation
by Fr. Guerric Heckel
27 March 2020
When I look at all that has changed in our lives and world these past few weeks, when I acknowledge the uncertainties of our future, when I read the statistics that the US has more cases of coronavirus than any other country, when I read the death numbers, when I hear of the heartbreak of those who have to let staff go or drastically reduce the wages and hours of their employees, when I see the destitution of those who have lost their jobs or income, when I wonder how long this will last or how long it will be until people can again greet each other with hugs, kisses and handshakes – I don’t want more information or answers about COVID – 19. I don’t want more instructions about what to do or not do. I don’t want to hear, “The cure is worse than the disease.” I never want to hear again words like, “Let the virus take its course.” By this they mean let it take out the old and vulnerable who are already a drain on society and our economy.
Acknowledging the painful devastation of our economy, I hope as a nation we never have to choose to see the economy rise on Easter Sunday rather than Christ rise from the dead, the wounded coronavirus stricken, and heartbroken bodies of the members of his body.
I want to hear words of hope and consolation. That is why I pray the psalms in these dark hours. I want to pray as Jesus did when faced with hard times. I am drawn back to the psalms, those ancient texts of the Bible. Long before the Gospels were written the Jewish people prayed and sang psalms individually and with others.
Psalms voice for us, as they did for Jesus, a range of human emotions flowing from the ups and downs of daily living – joy, sadness, hope, anger, gratitude, desperation, confidence, peace, etc. The response to today’s psalm 34, a psalm of Trust, gives distinctive voice to some of what I have been experiencing – “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” I hadn’t realized it so clearly, but I have been carrying around a broken heart, as well as the broken heart of my global family. Just naming it helps make me feel less alone to realize that Jesus and countless others who prayed this psalm had broken hearts.
Of course, God is always close, but when we experience brokenness, we are more likely to let Him and others in. With the help of the psalms we give voice to what is most human. Making this offering of our whole self to God, we find greater union with the one we cry out to in the psalm.
Responsorial Psalm 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 AND 23
- The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just ones,
but out of them all the LORD delivers them.
R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He watches over all his bones;
not one of them shall be broken.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
This is my tip for praying through difficult times – pray as Jesus did. Perhaps you may want to return to Psalm 34, this beautiful psalm of trust for your own prayer.