He is Near

A Reflection on the Psalm for April 4th, 2021:
The Solemnity of Easter Sunday

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Psalm 118

R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever. Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 

R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!

“The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 

R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!

The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 

R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

“...the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but I shall live.”

The Lord has allowed some unpredictable crosses in my life over the last 10 years; some of my own doing, others outside my control. I probably shouldn’t be surprised when things have gone unexpectedly or that I’ve missed the mark — this is part of life. Sometimes I have to make an effort not to take myself too seriously along the way — recall the phrase: “If you don’t laugh you might cry!”  

But sometimes maybe we should. It is important to acknowledge at some point, most of us will experience things in life that are deeply disappointing or painful. In these moments we may be discouraged with ourselves, others, or our circumstances, and find no way to change or fix what we wish hadn’t happened.

Despite prophecy, nothing about Jesus’ life and death was predictable or expected. As Holy Week approaches, I imagine the same feelings of helplessness, grief, shame, bewilderment, and disappointment in those He loved as He walked Calvary. How could this happen? What could they have done differently? They are left with empty hands, no solutions, and broken hearts.

And so are we. Jesus knows we are unable, so He fights valiantly for the victory over everything gone wrong. His is a salvific, humble, and heavenly valor: a divine courage and obedience in the most dark and difficult of situations where hope seemed bereft. Not only has He freely borne our grief and suffering, but in doing so He redeems it by death itself. 

This is the beautiful, painful, and perennial paradox of the Easter story. To suffer is to live, in death, there is life. Christ our conqueror makes possible the redemption of those moments of our lives we wish had gone differently.

Perhaps Lent didn’t go the way you wanted. Perhaps this season is full of heartache, disappointment, failure, or exhaustion. Maybe you are overwhelmed by grief, or numb and unable to feel. Whatever it is, I invite you to give Jesus permission to fight valiantly for you this Holy Week. Trust Him. Allow Him to save you, to love you, to be your hero. To redeem your suffering, to walk that walk you can’t or couldn’t. The day of victory is coming. He is near.
 
In valor Christ conquers. In Him “I shall not die, but I shall live.”




Michelynne  Gomez
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