Everybody Hurts Sometimes

Homily for Wednesday of the 2nd Week in Advent

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the day on which my niece’s husband took his own life. As you might imagine, every time I looked at my computer screen yesterday, I found another reminder of that sad day. People posted pictures of him, dressed up in plaid flannel shirts in his memory, and asked others to reach out to my niece to comfort her. I know that the sad memories of that day will remain with her for a very long time.

Someone also posted a song called “Memories” on line yesterday, a song that remembered all those who have been lost in the past year. The lyrics of the song poignantly remind us that “everybody hurts sometimes, everybody hurts some days.” As the time of our lives slowly unwinds, we all will experience pain and loss. Today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah recalls a particularly difficult memory for the children of Israel, the destruction of Jerusalem.

When Assyria attacked and devastated Israel, the young men and women were shackled and made to walk through the desert to Babylon. There the served for more than seventy years as slaves for their conquerors. Because of this memory, the people cry out to God: “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God.” However, the prophet urges them to lift their eyes to heaven.  We are prone to focus on the muddled environment that surrounds us at eye-level. However, if we lift our eyes toward God, we will find the hope that we need to carry on in the face of the burdens that all of us carry through this life.

The passage concludes with some stirring words: “They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings. They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.” The Gospel picks up this theme and reminds us that Jesus has promised that we will find rest in him. He is our hope in the face of the pain that we all feel sometimes and some days.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator