In today's responsorial psalm, we pray as follows: "I will extol you, O my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works." As you pray these words, who comes to your mind who needs to experience God's compassion because the compassion of one's spouse, child, parent, grandparent or any other relative has, at this point in time, been denied them: their spouse threatens divorce, a spouse has left them for what looks "like greener pastures" outside the marriage, a terminally ill child dies or one of their child has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, the breadwinner of the family has lost his/her job because of the pandemic and on and on and on! To top off one's misery, the person who means the most to oneself commits suicide!
How can this possibly be, we exclaim! In all of those scenarios, Jesus, who is one with us, suffers with us, is crushed with us, is crucified with us, scourged with us, bullied with us, crowned with the thorns of mockery with us! And, yes, it is Jesus who, in the words of the psalmist, "is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness."
In the opening words of today's first reading, Isaiah 41: 13-30, God reminds us, through the prophet, of who He is, saying: "I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand." God does not abandon us or let us walk through this valley of tears alone. He has our back and grasps our hand to keep us safe and protect us from that which could seriously harm us. God reinforces this message by further saying: "It is I who say to you, 'Fear not'...I will help you....your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I will make of you a threshing sledge, a sharp, new, and doubled-edged. To thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff. When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you will rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the Holy One of Israel." What a promise! And what God promises, God delivers!
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