Reflections
“My God, my God, why have you
abandoned me?”
David writes this psalm almost as
though it were planned to be part
of the Passion of Christ. In fact
the psalm becomes the prayer of
Christ at the time of his crucifixion
and speaks of the suffering that our
Savior experiences on our behalf.
People are the same today as they were
back then, when Jesus was being led to
the cross. We scoff at him; we mock him;
we wag our heads and hurl insults at him.
Why?
Because he becomes contemptible in
our eyes. He reminds us that we are a
sinful people; he convicts us; he catches
us in the lie; he embarrasses us; he
exposes us; he accuses us of being
hypocrites.
He holds us to a higher standard;
He speaks directly to God;
He claims to be God's Son;
and we reject him for this; and mock him.
We do not move to assist him.
Let God rescue him –
“He relied on the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, if he loves him.”
These words of the psalm are the same
words used by those who conspired against
Jesus when he was dying on the cross.
They did not realize that the suffering and
death of an innocent servant would restore
life for sinful man. The words they spoke
were to be fulfilled, not by Jesus coming
down from the cross, but by sinful humanity
like us being delivered, forgiven,
and lifted up.
We are reminded by St Paul in today's second
reading that Christ takes the form of a slave,
obedient even to death for our sake.
(Philippians 2:7-8)
Isaiah in today's first reading speaks
about the Messiah long before his birth and
predicts that he will be beaten, and his beard
will be plucked. (Isaiah 50:4-7)
But the servant does not rebel (as Isaiah tells us).
He knows that he will not be put to shame.
God the Father is not far off, even when Jesus lies
hanging on the cross. The psalm describes the
Passion of Christ, and we know that what seemed
like a moment of weakness for Christ became a
source of strength for sinful humanity.
Ultimately God reverses this righteous man’s
condition. As our psalmist says, “But you, O Lord,
be not far from me; O my help, hasten to aid me.”
Hope returns, the righteous man is delivered, and he
celebrates his deliverance – “I will proclaim your name
to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will
praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Were you part of the crowd of evildoers who closed in on Christ, that our
psalmist speaks about? Tell of what part you play even today in mocking Christ.
2. The psalm asks, 'My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?' Do you
2. The psalm asks, 'My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?' Do you
believe that our Lord was truly abandoned by the Father?
I don’t believe our Father God is capable of abandoning any of His creations. It is not in His Nature. From the beginning, He exists as Perfect Love. However, throughout history and in our own lives, we witness how He allows for discomfort or trial to arise in the lives of His faithful. We need only take a look at the life of Job or the despair felt by St. Frances de Sales at the potential loss of his soul, or St. Mother Teresa who experienced an extended period of spiritual dryness/darkness. If a suffering period is going to bear greater fruit later, God does seem to permit it sometimes, as a loving parent allows his/her child to make a mistake for the sake of being the wiser.
ReplyDeleteIn Jesus’ case, there is a clear difference from the above examples. Jesus was the only man (Yes, God-Man... but Lent allows us to see His humanity) who was created to die. His purpose was to conquer death for our sake, so He had to die in the physical sense. Jesus knew this. Mary knew this. Today, April 11th, happens to be the feast day of St. Gemma Galvani. She has said, “Oh, what great sorrow it must have been for the Mother, after Jesus was born, to think that they had to then crucify him! What pangs she must have always had in her heart! How many sighs she must have made, and how many times she must have wept! Yet she never complained.” On this day, we call her our Suffering Mother and ask her to pray for us.
Suffering. Loss. Pain. Death. Jesus, Mary, the Holy Spirit, and God Himself have each tasted these things. We grieve their hearts when we sin and turn away. And at the same time, Perfect Love reigns. Perfect plans in perfect timing describe His sovereignty.
As Jesus himself had to walk through darkness to fulfill His purpose, we too, might be bestowed a rough patch of life, which feels like abandonment. We can look to Jesus’ example of putting one foot in front of the other, on His way to Calvary. We can try our best to walk in those footsteps; we know that He has been there. And He will certainly help us carry our cross along the way.
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me ?
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing that David, our psalmist, uses the exact description of suffering of our Messiah hanging on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” What does it mean? I wondered.
As far as I am concerned, Jesus felt his intimate connection of God's light within him was gone out. Momentarily He felt the darkness. He was in desperation without God’s light within him. He was always connected to God. For our redemption He bore our treacherous sins in his own body on the cross. He was doing the will of God.
Thanks to Jesus’ righteousness we could be saved and reconciled with God.
He must have felt tortured by our sins all at once on him. It was an unbearable blow for His human body to endure. But He endured all our insults — scoffing at him, mocking him, wagging our heads and despising him, and all degradation and rejection came upon him.
Up to this point God’s light was always with Jesus. But without God's light Jesus experienced death and darkness. What Jesus said was an urgent appeal to God. He believed in victory over death. God will see him raised up through Jesus’ Passion. And so He became a source of strength for sinful humanity. Like David believes God will lead us out of despair and great trial. God will deliver us.
Our psalmist tells us there will be hope and victory after the trials. Eventually trials turn to joy. Likewise, Jesus rescues us and delivers us from death through his suffering. If I do not believe in his death for us and for all the great things he has done for me, and his resurrection, then I am still insulting and mocking him.
Jesus will lead us into the light out of the darkness which he has undergone.
I think an experience of the darkness is a kind of blessing in our life so that we can be more close to God through our suffering. Praise the Lord all my soul !