St. Paul, in 2 Cor 5:19, reminds us that God was and is reconciling
the world to himself in Christ Jesus and entrusting to us the message of
reconciliation. As quoted in today’s
Gospel, Mt 12: 14-21, the Prophet Isaiah prophesies Jesus’ way of
reconciliation: “A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench
until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
The first reading of today’s liturgy speaks about the 430
years that the Israelites were slaves of the Egyptians and how God freed them,
brought them to the promised land. We,
too, will encounter suffering in our lives, as did the Israelites, as did Jesus.
With the Lord, we will walk the road to
Calvary, be scourged by burning, scorching words, by injustices and heartbreaks. We will be “nailed”
to crosses of pain and suffering from which there is no escape except death. We
will be crowned with the thorns of verbal and emotional abuse (many times coming
from the way in which our self-messages lack compassion). The very pain we
suffer with, in and through Jesus will lead to resurrection, to being reconciled
with ourselves and others. When we peer into our pain and suffering, look for
lessons we need to learn, only then will “a bruised reed... not break, a
smoldering wick... not [be] quench[ed]." In seeking wisdom from what we suffer, we are
enabled to bring "justice to victory". We then open the way to experiencing the
resurrection, that is, newness of life, new hope and new ways of loving self
and others.
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