A cry of lament
The murder of Fr Lionel Sham, one of our most loved priests this past weekend is devastating. We are shocked by the senseless and vicious attack on an innocent man who selflessly dedicated his life to serving others. Our grief and outrage is a communal lament which must be expressed-a cry of anguish to God at the injustice of what has taken place.
Many of the people I have spoken to this week have expressed an overwhelming sense of anger. A friend said she felt angry that the one suspect had died as she wanted him to suffer the consequences of his actions. For others of us there is a sense of deep despair and hopelessness at living in a society in which there is no regard for the value of human life. There is fear too and a sense of vulnerability. How do we respond? How do we deal with such intense grieving in the context of our faith?
The psalmists teach us much about prayer in such circumstances of tragedy. They pour out their rage and pain to God. They appeal to God, “How much longer Lord will you look on?” and “Wake Lord! Why are you asleep? Awake! Do not abandon us for ever.” They even appeal to God for retribution against their enemies “Destroy them in your anger, destroy them till they are no more…show no mercy to these malicious traitors” We should not hesitate to pour out our anger, our grief, our hurt and our despair to God-even our anger with God himself. To lament is our right as a covenant people. This lament is itself an act of bold faith which affirms that we trust God enough to express honestly the depth of our experience and that we know that God is strong enough to hold us in our rage and grief.
Jesus himself lamented in his darkest hour on the cross saying “My God my God why have you abandoned me?”
At Lent and in Holy Week we journey as a community towards and through the passion trusting that the resurrection will dawn. We find ourselves now at the foot of the cross confused and angered by the senseless suffering of another innocent man. We have been profoundly shaken by this experience and we need to lament-to stay at the foot of the cross. We need to allow ourselves to pour out our grief without restraint to God. It is only God who can console us as a community and help us in time to discover again the hope of the resurrection.
