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Deacon Tom writes©
“You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone”
Imagine the sheer horror of you and your family being
taken captive by an invading army and brought to a foreign country to live a
life of servitude. Sorrowfully, this notion does not just fall within the realm
of the imagination, for as we are all too aware, tragic events such as this are
very much a contemporary reality. We can only imagine the terror of the 276
young women who were taken from their homes in Chibok, Nigera by Boko Haram, a
terrorist organization based in northeast Nigeria. Their whereabouts and condition is still unknown. Suffering captivity and being taking
away from home, family, and community is a terror that many innocent victims of
war and violence have in common throughout history.
As captives we would be stricken by our loss, overcome
by fear and grief as we realized that we would never see our homes again, never
set foot in those places that give us spiritual comfort and precious memories
or never experience the familiar, ordinary, and common joys that come from the
bigger sense of family and community. Got the picture? This is the lamenting that we hear in
the Responsorial Psalm today. The people of Israel bemoaning, “How can we sing a song of the Lord in a
foreign land?” They longed to
reconnect to the Temple and their homeland, those places that gave them their
identity as the “People of God”. Reflecting on this captivity experience of the
Jewish People recorded in Sacred Scripture and repeated throughout the ages by
many people calls to mind the expression, “You
don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” In other words, we take so much
for granted today… our health, our loved ones, our freedoms and our way of life
to name a few.
Given all that we have, it is no wonder that there
are other ways to be held in captivity beyond being led away in chains. Our spirits can easily be taken captive. We can
become prisoners because of all the changes and uncertainty in the air and the
fears and anxiety they breed that paralyze us and take away our freedom. We may
fear what the future holds in store; we may be worried about losing our job or fear
what will happen if we lose our health care. Parents are concerned if they will
be able to pay for college for the kids or how they will be able to take care
of mom and dad. And on and on it goes.
Worries, anxieties, and fears combining like a thundering hoard taking
control of our spirits and leading us off to places we do not want to go;
stealing our ability to live in the present moment which is the only moment we
really have… the eternal, present, now.
In looking at the worrisome times we are facing, we
do well to look at these comforting words from Psalm 137. Captive Israel came
to understand more deeply their longing
for God. It was during this time of great suffering and trials, in the
middle of their anxieties and fears, in their sense of desperation and
hopelessness that they profoundly experienced that it was the great “I AM” for whom
they longed, who was the deepest desire of their hearts.
The people of Israel regained their freedom once
they turned their hearts and minds back to God. Once they knew what they had
lost, they knew what they had to do to get it back. That is the purpose of Lent…to rediscover the gift of God’s
unconditional love for us and to rekindle that love within our hearts.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
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