He took our sicknesses away,
and carried our diseases for us. MT 8:17
2 KINGS 25:1-12
My Soul's Beloved,
Once again we see how God's chosen people were captured, taken into exile and Jerusalem was destroyed. The Temple was burned as it was many times in the past and the walls surrounding Jerusalem were broken down. This is a recurring story, every time God's people sinned grievously, broke the commandments, worshipped false gods, and did all that God had precisely forbidden them to do their enemies conquered. Not only were they killed brutally, but the Temple and their homes were burned and destroyed. The king tried to escape under cover of night but he was found, his sons were put to death, his eyes were put out, and he was put in chains and carried off to Babylon.
Sin destroys everything it touches. Sin separates us from God. Sin is deliberately and willfully, and with full consent doing what God expressly forbids because You created us and You know that we cannot live apart from the Source of all Life. And yet, fools that we are, we choose sin, momentary pleasure, and concupiscence over what is true, good, and beautiful and gives us peace and joy. The devil has been a liar and a deceiver from the beginning, we know it, experience has taught us this is true and yet we allow ourselves to be deceived over and over again and then we wail, moan, and complain when we have to suffer the consequences.
Yet, O Lord, we see again, there is always hope. There is always a faithful remnant - poor, humble, whom the world despises, ignores, and treats with contempt. These are Your little ones and You use these little ones who are great in Your sight to rebuild what the Enemy destroyed. Count me among Your little ones O Lord and keep me and those I love under the shelter of Your wings.
The commander of the guard left some of the humbler country people as vineyard workers and ploughmen.
PSALM 136(137):1-6
By the rivers of Babylon
The commander of the guard left some of the humbler country people as vineyard workers and ploughmen.
PSALM 136(137):1-6
By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat and wept,
remembering Zion;
on the poplars that grew there
we hung up our harps.
remembering Zion;
on the poplars that grew there
we hung up our harps.
For it was there that they asked us,
our captors, for songs,
our oppressors, for joy.
‘Sing to us,’ they said,
‘one of Zion’s songs.’
our oppressors, for joy.
‘Sing to us,’ they said,
‘one of Zion’s songs.’
O how could we sing
the song of the Lord
on alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
on alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
O let my tongue
cleave to my mouth
if I remember you not,
if I prize not Jerusalem
above all my joys!
if I remember you not,
if I prize not Jerusalem
above all my joys!
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!
MATTHEW 8:1-4
My Soul's Beloved,
Every healing recorded in the Gospel demonstrates to us and the whole world that You are not only God but also reveals that You O Lord are tender-hearted, loving, kind, and compassionate. You are not distant, untouchable, unknowable - but You O Lord are near and tangible.
The Father sent You into the world so we could see You and know You for You are the image of the unseen God. Not only do we see You, Beloved, but we are privileged to taste You. We eat and drink You in the Holy Eucharist and each time we do we discover that You are sweeter than wine, wine from the honeycomb, and finer than the finest wheat. You O Lord, are so close, You become our food and drink, and for a while, we are united with You in an intimacy closer than the most intimate relationship between man and woman bound in holy matrimony. You O Lord are the divine Bridegroom who unites with His poor spouse and for just a little while the two are one.
Beloved, we are the leper who comes to You from the shadows, unaware of our unworthiness, of our separation from You due to the leprous nature of our sins, and we prostrate before You as we approach You in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and after we have confessed our sins and say, ‘Lord, if you want to, you can cure me.’ And always we will experience You stretching out Your hand, touching us and saying, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And we are healed at once.
Beloved, grant us the grace to humbly approach this awesome Sacrament of healing and grace and take advantage of this wonderful privilege of being cleansed over and over again no matter how terrible the sins we have committed. No sinner sins so gravely that they are beyond Your sweet mercy. The humble, contrite heart You will never spurn.
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