I read this psalm this morning
Responsorial Psalm
Jeremiah 31:10-13
R: Response
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
O nations, hear the word of the Lord,
proclaim it to the far-off coasts.
Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him
and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock’ R
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
has saved him from an overpowering hand.
They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion,
they will stream to the blessings of the Lord. R
Then the young girls will rejoice and will dance,
the men, young and old, will be glad.
I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will console them, give gladness for grief. R
The prophet Jeremiah is writing about ‘The overpowering hand’ … that had subjected Israel to captivity, humiliation, exile and death for many. Removed them from their ancestral home.
It happened in Jeremiah’s time. It happened again in persecution and pogroms, and holocaust.
Jeremiah tells of a time when that humiliation will pass. When life will return to normal. There will once again be laughing, dancing, joy.
One would hope that a people who had experienced such devastation would recognise that they themselves have become the overpowering hand. The foot on the throat.
O to be able to speak the words of the psalm to Gaza and the people of the West Bank ? To say that the Lord will save them, that they will rejoice again ? How long ? How long ?
Five Short Words 