"My soul longs for you" Lent 5th week

” My soul longs for you.” Lent Week 5

As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.”  My being thirsts for God, the living God.  When can I go and see the face of God?  My tears have been my food day and night, as they ask daily, “Where is your God?  (Ps 42: 2 - 4, 6 - 7).

“They say to me daily; “Why are you downcast, my soul; why do you groan within me?”  “Wait for God,  whom I shall praise again, my savior and my God.”  (Ps 43: 11b - 12).

“Why must I go about mourning, with the enemy oppressing me?  Send your light and fidelity, that they may be my guide.”  Why are you downcast my soul?  Why do you groan within me?  Wait for God, whom I shall praise again, my savior and my God.”  (Ps 43: 2b - 3, 5).

As the weeks remind us that Jesus was not surprised of his upcoming ignominious treatment he would face, his mind could search the agony that would be with him on the Cross.  As a deer, the most docile of all animals, and Jesus being another mild creature as the Lamb of God, he awaits the final pathway on the road to redeem you and me.

Christ’s ultimate suffering is not a one time event with nails and a sword piercing his side as in a stage play with one act.  His entire ministry began with him humbling himself from heaven, withstanding Satan;s tempting him, to the very day on Good Friday where he emptied himself and died.  We can sometimes view a warrior as he prepares to do battle with an enemy.  It is not until he encounters an enemy out of a foxhole that his imminent destination becomes a reality.  With Christ, the moment God declared the plan to redeem humanity was the start of pain to his total mission, a complete battle from beginning to end; the resurrection of Christ!

This is what makes the necessity of the 40 days in Lent to assure we understand what passion is all about.  Even the nativity does not go this far.  Passion a strong and barely controllable emotion, that Jesus went through, but with pain no human would be able to endure. 

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing salvation and saying to Zion, Your God is King.”  Hark! Your watchmen raise a cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the Lord restoring Zion.  Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem!  For the Lord comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem.  The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; All the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.”  (Is 52: 7 - 10). 

From the Cross, in an unjust crucifixion, yet the only way to please God, Jesus already saw beyond us a victory coming in three days.  This is the final blow to Satan and his failure to corrupt humanity because of:  “you shall be banned from all the wild animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life.  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers.  He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”  (Gn 3: 14 - 15). 

Ralph B. Hathaway