How good to sing praise to our God; how pleasant to give fitting praise. The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, healing the brokenhearted, and binding up their wounds. (Psalm 147:1-3)
This is one of my favorite verses from the psalms; so when it turned up in Morning Prayer today, I was immediately struck by it once again. Once again, we find, as we did yesterday, that the Divine Office for this second day of Lent asks us to sing praise to God and offers God's healing power as motive for that praise.
The Gospel of St. Luke also tells a story about a man who binds up the wounds of someone who has fallen victim to robbers as he makes his way along the road to Jerusalem. We know that man as "the good Samaritan." Oftentimes I find myself with this picture in my mind when I pray Psalm 147.
I have never had the misfortune of falling victim to thieves and robbers and for the most part have escaped any violence at the hands of others. I have, however, on occasion heard others recount the experience. Many have been traumatized by such experiences.
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down and our military personnel return home, we are constantly being made aware of PTSD. We used to call it "shell shock." Even though many of our soldiers are returning home without wounds in their flesh, vast numbers of them are returning with a wounded spirit. I will admit that I have often thought that CUSA has something to offer these men and women, but thus far we have been unsuccessful in enlisting these brave young men and women in our apostolate. So for now, we have to be content with praying for them and asking God to "bind up their wounds."
All of us are wounded in one way or another. This Lenten Season offers us the opportunity to present our wounded spirits to God for healing. Even though it is a full six weeks off, Pope St. Leo the Great reminds us in the second reading for the Office of Readings today that the celebration of Easter is the focus of Lent. He reminds us that Easter is the celebration of our reconciliation with God, the feast on which we gaze upon our wounded Savior and realize that just as God raised him up, we too will be healed when we are raised up. Let us let God wash our wounds, pour wine and oil on them, bind them up and restore us to life in God's love.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator