Homily for SATURDAY of the 12th Week in ORD Time I Lamentations 2:2, 10–14, 18–19 I CARMEL LIGHT

Lamentations 2:2, 10–14, 18–19 “Cry aloud to the Lord, O daughter of Sion!” The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonour the kingdom and its rulers. The elders of the daughter of Sion sit on the ground in silence; they have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city. They cry to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers’ bosom. What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Sion? For your ruin is vast as the sea; who can heal you? Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading. Their heart cried to the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Sion, let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night 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.” Psalm 74:1–2, 3–4, 5–7, 20–21 (R. 19b) Do not forget the life of your poor ones forever. 1. Why, O God, have you cast us off forever? Why does your anger blaze at the sheep of your pasture? Remember your flock which you claimed long ago, the tribe you redeemed to be your own possession, this mountain of Sion where you made your dwelling. 2. Turn your steps to these places that are utterly ruined! The enemy has laid waste the whole of the holy place. Your foes have made uproar in the midst of your assembly; they have set up their emblems as tokens there. 3. They have wielded their axes on high, as at the entrance to a grove of trees. They have broken down all the carvings; they have struck together with hatchet and pickaxe. O God, they have set your holy place on fire; they have razed and profaned the abode of your name. 4. Look to the covenant; each cave in the land is a place where violence makes its home. Do not let the oppressed be put to shame; let the poor and the needy bless your name.