Scripture:
Reflection:
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you. -Isaiah 49:15
In today’s first reading from Isaiah, the author is speaking to a desolate and destitute people, who have been deported from Jerusalem to exile in Babylon. Their faith and their hope are at a very low ebb, and he does his best to console them by describing the coming liberation and restoration of Jerusalem. He uses beautiful images that were familiar to them, like shepherds leading their sheep to good pasture and away from dangers.
And they are not receiving his message. They respond with: “The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
So, the writer of Isaiah offers perhaps the most beautiful expression of divine love in the Bible:
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you. -Isaiah 49:15
When times are hard, or when we are discouraged by the evil we see in the world, it is difficult to believe in a loving God. Or we may feel unworthy and small; and it is a big leap of faith to believe that God sees me, loves me tenderly, and will never forget me.
Once we understand, accept and truly experience this tender love from God, we come to realize that God loves everyone in this same intimate way.
And we want to pass it on.
Having a conversion of heart, we take on the mind of Jesus, who proclaims in today’s Gospel reading His inclusive love:
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes in the one who sent me
has eternal life and will not come to condemnation,
but has passed from death to life. -John 5:24
Being loved by God and loving God, and loving others and being loved by others, leads us into compassion, sharing the tender love of God with those near, and eventually the entire created world.
Compassion begins with solidarity with a suffering world. -The Passionist Way
Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She serves on the Board of Directors at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan. Patty is currently a member of the Laudato Si’ Vision Fulfillment Team and the Passionist Solidarity Network.