Punish me not for my sins

June 6, 2007

Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

At that time, then, she spread out her hands, and facing the window, poured out this prayer: "Blessed are you, O Lord, merciful God! Forever blessed and honored is your holy name; may all your works forever bless you. And now, O Lord, to you I turn my face and raise my eyes. Bid me to depart from the earth, never again to hear such insults. Tobit 3:11-13

I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not God of the dead but of the living. Mark 12:27

Piety

Let us pray: Blessed are you, O Lord, merciful God! Forever blessed and honored is your holy name; may all your works forever bless you. And now, O Lord, to you I turn my face and raise my eyes. God, surrounded by a culture of violence and death, it is easy to trivialize life. We hear the words “Repsect Life” so much that the syllables seem to have lost their meaning in our society. As Tobit prayed, so do I – Punish me not for my sins. Instead, open my eyes to the needs around me so I may become your vessel for delivering help. Open my heart to new relationships with your and the world so that I may become your vessel for delivering hope. We ask this through your son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/060607.shtml

Tobit and Sarah are at their wit’s end. The turmoil in each one’s life has taken them to the point of not wanting to live…and they turn to God to ask for a way out. For Tobit and Sarah, they can only conceive of death as an escape for the pain and suffering that they are experiencing in life.

The wisdom Jesus gained at the right hand of God shows through again today in the Gospel. Jesus is never at an end of His divine wisdom. Repeatedly, the Sadducees have tried to ask Jesus trick questions to get the Lord to trap himself. Yet time after time, Jesus’ answer astonishes the crowd.

Jesus turns the tables on his inquisitors saying, “Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God?” Jesus teaches that God is the Lord of Life, a God if the living, not the dead.

In their hour of greatest anxiety, these two lonely and afflicted people put their entire trust in God seeking a way out. However, human wisdom has its limit. They think that God has at His disposal the same options they conceive. However, they are to learn that the God of the Living has many ways to rescue us from our afflictions. Tobit and Sarah can’t even begin to imagine that their personal God will send His angel Raphael “to heal them both.” Tobit will see again. Sarah will love again. All because in their greatest need, they put their faith and heart in God’s hands. Even though their minds were as limited as the Sadducees, God shows us again and again that his love and wisdom are without limits.

Action

Suicide has been in the news a lot lately. Of course the Virginia Tech tragedy ended in the suicide of the gunman. But we also hear of such despair regularly.

· A suicide car bomb exploded in a crowded market west of the capital Tuesday morning, killing 15 people, while a female suicide bomber in east Baghdad was spotted by police and killed by gunfire that set off her explosives before she could reach her target, U.S. and Iraq security officials said. (The Washington Post, June 5)

· Jack “Dr. Death” Kervorkian, hasn't stopped trying to convince others that there is support in the medical profession for assisted suicide. Appearing on NBC's Today show, Kevorkian rattled off poll numbers suggesting that many other doctors have assisted in suicides, and that some still do so. The suicide doctor, emerges from jail after eight years for helping people end their lives, vows that he will not aid any more suicides yet he still will press for legalizing assisted suicide. (NBC, June 5)

· An elderly Weston, Florida, man shot and killed his ailing wife in her private Cleveland Clinic hospital room Monday morning before turning the gun on himself. Alberto Volinsky, 86, committed murder-suicide in the fourth-floor room where his wife, Hildegard Volinsky, 87, was being treated, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. (Miami Herald, June 6)

The stories of Tobit and Sarah, and God’s intervention even at the hour after both had given up all human hope except faith in God alone, show us that we can never know God’s ability to save us.

In addition to God’s love, there are people and organizations who are here to help those people in such despair. Are you called to action with such an organization?

CRISISLINK is a suicide and crisis prevention, intervention and response organization. This nonprofit organization serves Northern Virginia and provides community education and training in mental-health issues.

Crisislink has a certified volunteer crisis response team and offers CareRing, a free, daily telephone outreach program for elderly and disabled people. Help is needed for the suicide and crisis hotline. Perhaps you can spend some time helping to answer the call from people who contemplate suicide and save them from such despair. For a training schedule, call 703-527-6016, visit the website http://www.crisislink.org or send an e-mail to volunteer@crisislink.org.