Today’s Responsorial Psalm is the heart wrenching lament: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” The cause of this great lament in described in the first reading from the book of Kings, the Babylonian Exile. The city of Jerusalem (Zion) is attacked and destroyed by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Many of the people, especially the rules and leaders, were driven into exile by the conquering Babylonians.
This time of exile is the context for today’s psalm: “…there our captors asked us for the words of a song; Our tormentors, for joy: ‘Sing for us a song of Zion!’” The exiles respond that now is not a time for singing but for lamentation: “How could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand be forgotten!”
Sadly, we see this same destruction in the holy land today as we see daily images of the terrible suffering of both the Palestinian and Jewish people. We pray and lament for these poor people. We pray for both peace and justice. The terrible suffering of both the Palestinian and Jewish people leads us to pray the despairing words of the 22nd Psalm:
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish? My God, I call by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I have no relief.”
This Psalm of despair and lamentation is also a prayer of faith:
“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord; All the families of nations will bow low before him.” (Psalm 22:28).
So today let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem and Gaza. Let pray that God may send forth leaders to be instruments of peace and ministers of reconciliation. We pray for the peace of God’s holy land.
Image: “Harp” by Haags Uitburo is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.