“The Lord is close to the
brokenhearted” – this is the refrain we hear in today’s psalm. The psalmist goes on to say that “the Lord
confronts the evildoers,” that the Lord hears the just when they cry out. There are times in our lives when we are
brokenhearted, when illness or death or divorce or failure leaves a void in our
lives that seems to ache forever. It
seems like life will never be the same again, and maybe it won’t. But one day the pain give way to new hope,
even though it does not seem like it never will.
The reflection in Give Us This Day,
the daily readings that I have been following, talks about the Mothers of the
Plaza de Mayo, a group of mothers and grandmothers in Buenos Aires, Argentina
that witnessed the disappearance of their children, husbands, and
grandchildren. It is estimated that more
than 20,000 people were kidnapped by the government and were killed. But the mothers did not stand idle in their
anger, frustration, and brokenheartedness.
They demonstrated in the main plaza in front of the governmental
buildings and they continued to ask the military government about what happened
to their loved ones. Eventually, the military
government lost public approval and they stepped down from its position of
power. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
still exist today – I met with some of them when I studied in Argentina back in
2002.
When we are brokenhearted, we are told
to have confidence in the Lord. And I
always tells all of you to reach out to the Lord in your pain and sadness, to
unite the sufferings that you are enduring with the sufferings that Jesus went
through. The Lord does reach out to the
brokenhearted in a very special way. May
we never forget that.
No comments:
Post a Comment