Deacon Tom Anthony

Reflection for MCI Concord                        10/27/13                        Ken Meltz, Holy Family Parish, Concord, MA

30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time “C”

Sirach 35: 12-14, 16-18

Psalm 34

II Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18

Luke 18: 9-14

The readings in today’s liturgy are a consolation for all of us who feel oppressed, alone, deprived, unheard, mistaken and, in the words of the psalm, “brokenhearted.” To be human is to sometimes feel some of these emotions and it does not take us too many years living to feel all of them.

As young children we may feel alone when friends do not invite us in to their games. Or mistaken when teachers or others in authority misjudge us and we feel singled out or, better said, “left out.” I remember as a kid growing up in New York often feeling like the last pick on a neighborhood stickball or baseball team since I was not the most athletic, agile or speedy kid on the block.

As we get older, the “broken heart” becomes a chronic condition. Friends may let us down and even turn their backs on us. Neighbors may ignore us and not even extend a sense of welcome. Spouses may grow distant – sometimes for reasons we cannot understand – and we are left feeling both alone and misunderstood. Our children, as they get older, usually move away which is a natural part of growing up. But, sometimes, our children move away emotionally and that, more than geography, breaks our hearts. It really does not matter whether we have a lot or a little, whether we are in a nice house or a prison, whether we are extremely healthy or sickly – we all have a cardiac condition. Our hearts are often broken.

So where is the Good News? Where is the Gospel? Years ago, while in seminary, this is the question our preaching professor would put to us every time we tried to practice preaching. The answer to this ever-important question can be found, as it so often can, in the psalm – that little piece we sing or recite between the first two readings. Today it is Psalm 34: “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.”  Note it does not say: “might hear”….or  “sometimes hears”  or “hears the cry of some of the poor.” It is a blanket grace and covers all of us and all our losses whether we are inside or outside these walls.

Allow yourself to dwell on these lines from Psalm 34 when you are feeling particularly alone, misunderstood, oppressed and poor.

“When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.”