Loneliness, the Mother of Sorrows

Devotional Reflection, Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Proper 12, the week of the seventh Sunday after Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s Gospel.

45From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 977)

AM Psalm 72; PM Psalm 119:73-96

Judges 3:12-30; Acts 1:1-14; Matt. 27:45-54

Today we celebrate the feast of William Reed Huntington. (See below.)

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Office Gospel, Matthew 27:45-54

45From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ 47When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ 48At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’

50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’

David’s Reflections

Jesus’ life crosses over into our experience repeatedly. His cry of desolation, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, echoes the cries of suffering people for centuries prior and precedes the as yet uncried miseries of all centuries to follow. (Jesus’ cry quotes the first verse of Psalm 22, a classic lament, the first portion of which expresses feelings of divine abandonment.) Our attempts to fire the wick of theological explanation of what this cry meant feel like candle flickers compared to the floodlight of emotional connection with Jesus’ feelings of alienation.

The last poem found in the notebooks of the Polish poet Anna Kamienska (1920-1986) reached into that deep well of connection.

On the Cross

He was dying on the cross

on a hospital bed

loneliness stood there by his side

the mother of sorrows

Lips closed

and feet tied

My God my God

why have you forsaken me

Sudden silence

All had happened

that was to happen

between someone

and God.

8 May 1986 *

Whenever you and I feel lonely, alienated, defeated, hopeless, or put upon by an unfair existence, we can repair to this shared moment with Jesus. The most incredible life ever lived, the life with the purest intent and focus, near its end felt empty, alone, and abandoned by God.

Of course, that note did not end the concert. Jesus lived through that moment into one of assurance before he died, and then he rose from the grave. Those moments in which I feel so connected to his cry may precede a death, the death of a relationship, of a friend, of a dream, of an attachment. But, beyond every death faith makes her way through the tomb to a new beginning and a new life.

* Cited by David Curzon, The Gospels in Our Image: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Poetry Based on Biblical Texts (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1995), p. 231.

Collect of the Day, Proper 12, the seventh Sunday after Pentecost

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 231)

Today we celebrate the Feast of William Reed Huntington, priest (died 26 July 1909).

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/WRHuntington.htm

Collect of the Feast of William Reed Huntington

O Lord our God, we thank you for instilling in the heart of your servant William Reed Huntington a fervent love for your Church and its mission in the world; and we pray that, with unflagging faith in your promises, we may make known to all people your blessed gift of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect for Grace

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100)

In the Order of Worship for Evening

Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)

A Collect for Mission

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (BCP, 101)