A CRY 

CAN BE THE BEGINNING 

OF REDEMPTION

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “A Cry Can Be the Beginning of Redemption.”

When was the last time I cried?

Ooops! I’ll be talking here about the cries of sadness - loneliness - aloneness - hurt - being trapped - feeling stuck - caught - rejected - in the need of redemption - in the need of being saved - in the need of being delivered from a horror or harm. A cry that is a scream for “Help!”

FIRST READINGS

Yesterday and today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus triggers these thoughts. Yesterday we heard in the last sentence: “Pharaoh then commanded all his subjects, ‘Throw into the river every boy that is born to the Hebrews, but you may let all the girls live.’” [2:22]

Today we heard about Moses - 3 months old - no longer being able to be hid - being put in a basket - made of papyrus and pitch and bitumen. And Moses is put into the waters …. In Hebrew the word used for basket or container is TEVA. It’s a  box - coated in clay.

Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg - a daughter of a Rabbi - a teacher of the Torah - in her book, Reflections on Exodus - says the basket is in the form of a clay brick - and pharaoh’s daughter - sees the floating box, basket, ark, brick, and opens it. Inside is a baby and the baby cries.

And the author of Exodus gives the profound message: “On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying! She was moved with pity for him …. “

The title of my homily is, “A Cry Can Be the Beginning of Redemption.”

The baby’s cry got to her. She knew it was a Hebrew baby boy. She knew the edict - let the kid die - but she was moved with pity for him - and immediately set in motion a way to save Moses.

The rest is history.

EVERY PERSON

Every person is a box - a basket - a baby in a clay brick - floating on the waters of life  - and once opened - we cry.

In fact, if we don’t scream for help, we are not going to be saved.

How many times have we heard the Bible words, “The Lord hears the cries of the poor”?

How many times have we heard Psalm 130, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord”?

De Profundis….

In that Psalm we Redemptorists have our motto and our reason for being Redemptorists: “With him there is fullness of Redemption.” Our goal is to hear the cries of the poor - the screams of the stuck.

Prayer is that scream.

Ministry is hearing that scream - listening to it - being with the screamer.

Therapy is that scream. It is attempts to spell it out and spit it out.

The Human News: open up any person or every person - and there is a scream. It’s in us - from the womb to the tomb. It’s the ultra sound. It’s the Primal Scream in each of us.

What are your sounds - your deepest screams - your hurting hurts?

When was the last time you cried/

A parent left us at 11. A teacher or a priest or someone abused us at 7 or 13. A person whom we thought loved us - rejected us. Down deep that scream, that cry, has many sounds and forms.

In the middle of the tears you often hear the word, “unfair”. Or I thought things were going to go this way and they went that way.

The Pharaohs in our lives aborted us - hurt us - wanted us to disappear.

There is a Spanish proverb: Quien bien te quiere te hara llorar. [Whoever really loves you will make you cry.”

A cry can save us. A cry to God is prayer. A cry to  another whom we trust can be what saves us.

MOSES

Moses had a horrible scream - and as we continue with the book of Exodus we’ll find out that he had a horrible voice and speech pattern - and yet God called him - and he knew it - yet he knew how to scream - cry to God for help - but his words were hard to grasp.

The beginning of Redemption in any slavery  - addiction, drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, gambling, anger, laziness is that first step: the cry for help. It’s the beginning of redemption.

CONCLUSION

Tennyson in his poem, In Memoriam [1850], writes,

      I AM A CRY

“But what am I?

An infant crying in the night:

An infant crying in the night:

And with no language but a cry?”

Cry for help. Run for help.

Jesus hears the cries of the woman at the edge of the crowd who touches the edge of his garment.  Jesus hears the cries to Pharisees whom he challenges. Jesus hears the cries of widow who lost her only son. Jesus hears the cries of Lazarus in the graves.

We Redemptorists like to stress Mary is a symbol of Perpetual Help - which pictures Jesus scared and running to Mary - this same woman also called Our Lady of Mount Carmel - today’s feast - also Our Lady of Mercy. We know her message in the Gospel of John. Go to Jesus - the new Moses. Reach for Jesus floating on the waters to us as a baby - open him up. Hear his cries. Voice your cries. Grow old with him - moving from being a baby to becoming an adult. Amen.