The scriptures are very sad today. The book of Lamentations talks about weeping and suffering. It says, “O daughter Zion! Let your tears flow like a torrent day and night; Let there be no respite for you, no repose for your eyes … Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.”
Then Jesus got lost and his parents searched for him for three whole days. What mother wouldn’t be crying her eyes out the whole time, at the thought of losing her child? Flesh of her flesh, bone of her bone. His heart was part of her own heart too. Saint Joseph must have had his hands full trying to console Mary and take care of her during this period of immense suffering.
Have you ever noticed that once a person starts crying it is very easy to trigger the tears again? The tears just won’t stop and sometimes it can seem there is no comfort to be found.
There was no remedy in either one of the scriptures today, except for prayer in the first reading from Lamentations, and the search for the child Jesus in the gospel. Actually, Jesus turned out to be the remedy in the gospel though when his parents finally did find him.
Sometimes people get lost too, and have trouble finding their way in life. So many roads to chose, so many directions the course of our lives could go. Which is the right one? It can sometimes seem like a maze, when your life’s circumstances suddenly change. The firm grounding you always walked on can suddenly shift right beneath your feet, in a single moment.
Unexpected events can catch us off guard and we may not know how to react, or how to handle it very well.
Both of the readings for mass today indicate that it is ok to suffer, weep, cry and feel a little lost or confused sometimes, without having to pretend to everyone that our life is full of sunshine, and happiness, and joy. The scriptures today give us permission to be sad. It’s ok that we are sad, depressed or unhappy on occasion. Sometimes the situation warrants it. To pretend otherwise would not be the truth.
This is enough to think about today. Maybe we shouldn’t dwell on the readings too much. Just remember that it is ok to be sad, cry, get depressed or feel a little lost or confused on the rare occasions, when the situation warrants it.
The thing is, Jesus is with us even then.
Merciful Lord of Life,
I lift up my heart to You
in suffering and ask for
Your comforting help.
I know that You would withhold
the thorns of this life
if I could attain eternal life
without them.
So I throw myself on Your mercy,
resigning myself to this suffering.
Grant me the grace to bear it
and to offer it in union
with Your sufferings.
No matter what suffering may
come my way,
let me always trust in you.
Amen.
Daily Mass Readings:
Lamentations 2: 2, 10-14, 18-19 / Psalm 74 / Luke 2: 41-51
