Again I saw all the
oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look the tears of the
oppressed—with no one to comfort them! On
the side of their oppressors there was power—with no one to comfort them.
And I thought the
dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still
alive; but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not see
the evil deeds that are done under the sun. Ecclesiastes 4:1-3
The above text is taken from the reading we heard in chapel today
at Morning Prayer. My mind immediately filled up again with multiple images and
sounds I cannot forget. The slaughter of innocents seemingly never comes to an
end.
I put hope in the words of Psalm 30: Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. How
can we shorten the night? How can we comfort the oppressed; how can we confront the oppressors?
Sr. Mary Catherine Wenstrup, OSB
Thanks so much Mary Catherine, very powerful. Brenda, SCN
ReplyDeleteThe dark words of truth given in Ecclesiastes are very powerful but we must always resist them because they do not mention salvation. Also, as so often, the worst news is exaggerated and used to make us fearful or angry. Bad news is given and certainly bad things happen, and we may have to grieve but we must set against that dark something filled with hope and light -- how much love is given to us, and how we may hope in our own giving, and that the best truth is in love. We must also make certain that if we read Ecclesiastes, we must read an antidote - the achievements of a great saint, the words of Jesus Himself. God bless OSB amen
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