28th Sunday Ordinary Time (A) 15 October 2023 Every tear will be wiped away
The recent massacre in Israel and its flow-on effects are presently in the news. (Hamas attack 7 October 2023).
There is much grief and anger surrounding these events. We can look at them from a Christian perspective.
In the first reading (Is 25,6-10) we hear the promise from God that the ‘mourning veil’ will be removed.
That God will act to restore what has been lost, and to bring justice where it has been denied.
This is not only for Israel and not only now. Always in our sad world there is trouble. Always and everywhere. We need some consoling, certainly.
God is promising to give us that consolation we seek, not just in words but physical reality.
He will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
There are two ways we can understand this:
One way is to see these passages referring to the end of
time – the second Coming of Christ, the Last Judgment, the resurrection of all
the dead.
Think how many people have been murdered, massacred, suffered genocide, and other injustices such as slavery, torture, rape. Not one sparrow falls to the ground without our heavenly Father knowing it (Mt 10,29)– so what about all the people, many of them defenceless children?
The last days are a major part of our belief but so much outside our experience that we have trouble forming any clear picture of it. We know one thing for certain, that the innocent will be compensated for their sufferings - injustices set right, dignity restored for all those shamefully treated. Those whose lives were cut short will have life restored.
The tears shed by them and on their behalf will be wiped away.
This much is for the long term. God will fulfil these promises but we do not know when.
We can also see these promises in a more immediate sense and some of it right now.
When people convert to Christ they are immediately happy. The close experience of God will do much to take away the pains that otherwise press upon us.
If we have come to faith and baptism we can draw consolation directly from Christ, crucified and risen.
At any time God can intervene in His own creation and give us some extra grace to call us back to the right path.
We have just had the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, and that was definitely a special intervention by God.
We hope the human race responds to such signs, even if a little late, and we can see some of those promised consolations in our own time.
It is worth the long wait we have had, and may still have. Such outcomes are worth waiting for; but many get distracted and confused and they abandon the faith thus weakening themselves and the whole Church.
We need the discipline of a St Paul who can thrive on full stomach or empty (Ph 4,12). He can take any which way. Following that example we battle on through the hard times and eventually it will be always easy.
Though there are many difficulties we still never give up. Never means never.
Whether we succeed or fail in the short term we are pursuing the only sane course. The victory is assured, but we need to draw upon it more confidently.
Getting back to the Middle East crisis, we can help dissolve the hatred so that swords are turned in ploughshares (Is 2,4).
Words are not enough; missiles do not help; only full union with Christ will do it. We ask Him to make His presence felt and to resolve the current trouble and all the others.
To wipe away the tears from our eyes.
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