(Icon from Society of Saint John the Evangelist)
Tenebrae, the service of shadows, traditionally occurs on Wednesday in Holy week. We enter into the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah. Lamentations 2:19 reads
Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.
(Miguel and Becca)
Reading this line from Lamentations, I can’t help but think of the two kids we met at Dorcas House this past weekend, Miguel and Jasmin. Miguel was 5, Jasmin 3. They both speak English much better than Spanish, and so having the English speaking group around this weekend was a great comfort. They were found on the streets of Tijuana being beaten by an unknown man and were brought by Mexican Social Services to Dorcas House. We discovered a couple of days ago that the children are US Citizens and are missing from a foster home in San Diego. A woman identified as their mother was arrested Friday as she tried to enter the United States (undocumented). Their older brother, who was with the mom at the time, has been returned to the foster home. As we are invited to repent this week, we must examine our indifference to a border system that last week left 5 year old caring for his 3 year old sister on the streets of Tijuana where they were abused. We must lift up our hands to God for the lives of these children, and children everywhere.
Holy week invites us into the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. For Christians, the three days ahead represent the central answer by God to the great question of suffering in our world: Where is God when we suffer? God suffers with us, because God suffers humanly on the cross. But suffering is not the end of the story. The ultimate vindication of God’s reign, the triumph of the good news of LIFE over the powers of death in this world, THE RESURRECTION is the last word.
Pray for resurrection in the lives of Miguel and Jasmine, in the lives of children throughout the world, and in our own lives.
Mike Angell 