In Scripture, the book of Lamentations, attributed to the prophet Jeremiah and written around 587 BC, expresses the suffering of the people that was caused by the destruction of the Temple. This book not only reveals the religious sentiments of that destruction but also reveals the consequences of that same destruction, that is, loneliness, hunger, the suffering of women, children and the elderly … and there is repeated reference to the fall of the capital, Jerusalem: Jerusalem, once so full of people, is now deserted (Lamentations 1:1).
Viewing photographs of the effects of the global pandemic on our large cities (empty streets, no automobile traffic and the usual “traffic jams”, no noise from people or the marketplaces, no music or street performances, no frantic, hurried movement), I have thought repeatedly about these Old Testament laments, written more than twenty-five centuries ago … I have pondered the relevance of their message especially since the word is intended to speak to us and to elicit a response.
The prophet viewed the desolation and lamentation and the suffering and pain of the people and saw that all of this originated in the collective sin of the people: her many sins (1:5); she lies in the gutter with no one to lift her out (1:9); look around and see if there is any suffering like mine, which the Lord brought on me (1:12); I rebelled against God (1:18); my soul despairs, for I have sinned against you (1:18). It is natural for a religious man like Jeremiah to engage in a theological and spiritual reading of the experience of the people who are exiled and then to express that experience in the form of a lament for the pain and suffering that is endured.
It would not be appropriate to say that everything that is happening in the world today is the result of sin, but the crisis that we are experiencing should make us pause and reflect on what is happening to our planet, to humankind, to our economic and health systems. Pope Francis expressed this sentiment very well during his March 27th extraordinary Orbi et Urbi blessing: The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and feeble the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our communities. The tempest lays bare all our prepackaged ideas and forgetfulness of what nourishes our people’s souls; all those attempts that anesthetize us with ways of thinking and acting that supposedly “save” us, but instead prove incapable of putting us in touch with our roots and keeping alive the memory of those who have gone before us. We deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to confront adversity.
The prophet refers to five lamentations. Let us read these lamentations slowly so that the word can speak to the heart and there, find a response … every word that is addressed to us expects a response (and silence is one of those responses). In these five reflections I would like to say something about the realities that are expressed there: (1) desolation, (2) hunger, (3) hope, (4) the collapse of the city, (5) the suffering of the elderly. I hope that our reading and reflection on these laments will move us, like the prophet, to pray (lamentation, tears and suffering are authentic forms of prayer) and thus, deepen our hope and trust. Perhaps hope and trust are our best response to this word, to these lamentations and to this difficult time for humankind. Indeed, hope and trust are needed to maintain us active at home, active in praying, struggling and waiting …
First Lamentation (chapter 1): Desolation
The first lamentation of the prophet is desolation: O Jerusalem, once so full of people, is now deserted. She who was once great among the nations now sits alone like a widow. Once the queen of all the earth, she is now a slave. She sobs through the night; tears stream down her cheeks (1:1-2). The city is experiencing many difficulties (1:3); her roads are in mourning and the city gates are silent (1:4); her enemies dominate her (1:5); she has been deprived of her splendor (1:6); she has been stripped naked and humiliated and now she groans and hides her face (1:8); all day and every day she is suffering and in pain (1:13); the Lord sapped her strength and turned her over to her enemies, she is helpless in their hands (1:14); there is no one to comfort or encourage her (1:16).
The pandemic has left our cities and town abandoned … even animals that we had not seen for a long time have come out of the forest. In the course of a few days the plans of humankind were changed. Borders were closed and countries and continents found themselves locked down. I admit that the first time that I heard about northern Italy isolating herself from the south in order to prevent the spread of the pandemic, I thought that this was not only unnecessary but also exaggerated and impossible. I soon learned that there was no other way to prevent the spread of this virus. Then the United States closed its borders to most transatlantic flights and many countries closed not only their external borders but their internal borders, prohibiting travel from one city to another. Many of these restrictions are still in place and it is uncertain when those restrictions will be eased.
In a time of globalization, the world is not accustomed to the drastic limitations and restrictions that have been placed on travel and business and tourism. Yet in the passing of a few hours, with no preparation, we have been forced to focus on a single reality: how to control the spread of a virus. A few months ago, I was preparing to direct a retreat, others were making plans for the celebration of Holy Week and still others were exploring job opportunities after graduation. Every family, mayor, governor, and institution was engaged in planning for the coming months … and then, all those plans were placed on hold.
We are learning anew such things as spending time together and valuing little things (things that previously were unnoticed). We have come to understand that plans can change from one day to the next (people are unable to bury their loved ones and unable to participate in the sacraments). This has forced us to be creative in proclaiming the Word. As has occurred in other past struggles, humankind will pass this test. Manuel Castells (Minister of Universities in Spain), in a recent article entitled, Tiempo de virus (A time of virus), reminds us: We will eventually move beyond this pandemic, but we will be different. It may be that we have to go through an extended period of change in the consumption model. It may also be that we become a regenerated people who have recovered meaning in the simple pleasures of living, anchored in our family and friends. Beyond the normal irritation that results from a long period of confinement, we come to realize that the feelings of love and mutual support have sustained us. Perhaps we will have relearned the value of life and this will allow us to ward off other catastrophes that await us if we continue our destructive and pretentious ways.
Second Lamentation (chapter 2): Hunger
I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken. My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people. Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets. They cry out to their mothers, “We need food and drink!” Their lives ebb away in the streets like the life of a warrior wounded in battle. They gasp for life as they collapse in their mothers’ arms … Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer, pleading for your children, for in every street they are faint with hunger (2:11-12, 19).
The desolation of the city gives way to something more horrendous and unbearable: the hunger of children who cry for food to stay alive. Now, the concern of many is not the spread of the virus but rather survival. The quarantines that have been enforced to preserve public health have left many people unemployed and have made it impossible for many other people to leave their home in order to obtain essential goods. The drama of the pandemic has revealed the significance and importance of the informal work of millions of men and women who depend on that labor in order to provide their family with their daily bread.
Governments throughout the world, where the pandemic has made its presence felt, are struggling to return as soon as possible to a “normal” situation. They long to return to productivity and to restore a sense of social welfare, confidence and political stability that allows the manufacture of goods for domestic consumption, for export and for compliance with trade agreements. We have already seen how the accumulation of oil that has not been consumed has caused the price of oil to drop to historic levels and crippled the economies that depend on it.
While several nations have canceled the export of ventilators, respirators and materials for laboratory tests, others have been creative in developing solutions at a much lower price that allows them to satisfy internal need. This has allowed these nations to avoid the collapse of their health systems while forcing the testing of equipment and the acceleration of processes which under normal circumstances would take years. The pandemic has not only given rise to creativity but also to solidarity: companies have changed their objectives in order to seek practical solutions to the problems that the world is confronting.
Our primary concern is life, protecting the health of men and women. Hunger, however, can start to wreak havoc because it is almost impossible for any economy, even the most developed economies, to sustain long unproductive periods. We are faced with a dilemma because at a given moment it might become necessary to return to work in order to live … and in doing so we run the risk of relapse. Otherwise, as professor and psychiatrist León Cohen has said in his interview, we place ourselves on the brink of social chaos: What is your greatest fear? Post-pandemic poverty? There will be many people who will not have money for food. Therefore, all those who survive this pandemic must respond to the cries of the people in a visible and concrete manner. If not, we are one step away from what is happening in southern Italy, social chaos … except this time the chaos will be worse because it will be motivated by hunger.
Third Lamentation (chapter 3): hope
Properly speaking, hope is not a lamentation. Nevertheless, in the central chapter of the Book of Lamentation, we find a discussion on prayer and trust and hope. The prophets do not view everything as a lamentation and therefore, they do view every reality as a reason for denunciation. The prophets of Israel had a leading role in the lives of people, especially during times of trial. They instilled hope in people, hope that kept their dream of returning home alive (no evil can last one hundred years).
The prophet states: The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss (3:19-20). Nevertheless, Jeremiah remembers another reality that gives him hope: The faithfulness of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself: “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” (3:22-24). Although the lament has been profound, hope rises from the abyss like a shield and a fortress … something similar to the rising from ashes.
Throughout this pandemic we have also heard the voices of hope … beginning with the words that, in the midst of sadness, the Pope has communicated to us. The German prime-minister, who provided leadership in such an unprecedented situation, stated: I firmly believe that we will pass the test if all citizens truly understand that this is everyone’s task. So let me tell you: this is serious. Take this serious also … Even though we have never experienced anything like this, we must demonstrate that we act affectionately and sensibly and thus, save lives. This depends on each and every individual … there are no exceptions … this depends on us all!
During these difficult times we need this (responsible) hope. This hope is placed in humanity and therefore we might all be better as a result of what we have experienced. Others say that we will soon forget the pandemic and return to our old ways. Nevertheless, our hope for a better humankind is rooted not only in the ability of men and women but is also rooted in the trust that we place in God who in his providence guides the world: for no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow (3:31-33). This is not the first time that the world has experienced a pandemic. God has NOT inflicted us with this virus, but we trust that God will give us the strength to journey through this difficult period.
We can also take advantage of this situation to become converted. It is no mere coincidence that this pandemic exploded in front of us during the Lenten season and deprived us of celebrating Holy Week as a community. This, however, should not be viewed as an obstacle to prayer nor as an obstacle to conversion and a new beginning. Indeed, in the midst of his lament over desolation, famine and other evils, the prophet has the time and the faith in order to proclaim: Let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven (3:40-41).
This is a time of crisis, but it is also a time of hope and reflection and prayer. We will come out of this situation as better people if, together with our lamentation, we enter into the depths of our heart and open ourselves to others and lift up our prayers to God, firmly hoping in his mercy and great love … [God’s] mercies begin afresh each morning (3:23).
Fourth Lamentation (chapter 4): the collapse of the city
The prophets of Israel were not political but engaged in political activity because they lived in a theocracy where the priestly and prophetic functions were linked to the king’s functions. The kings relied on the prophets not only for anointing but they also consulted the prophets with regard to oracles and requested their intercession with God. The prophets, on multiple occasions, were the victims of the evil deeds of the rulers (being persecuted, imprisoned and even killed).
Jeremiah’s Lamentations were no exception. The Babylonian Exile (587 BC) had great political repercussions because … the Temple was destroyed, and the religious and moral identity of the people became confused. Nevertheless, there was a small group of people, the remnant, who remained faithful to the divine promises, to their religious practices and to the moral principles that were summarized in the decalogue. The national and political identity of the people was bound up with their religious identity. The repercussions of the exile were necessarily political and that is why the role of the prophets is of great importance and significance.
The guilt of my people is greater than that of Sodom, where utter destruction struck in a moment, and no hand offered help … they burned the city to its foundations. Not a king in all the earth — no one in all the world — would have believed that an enemy could march through the gates of Jerusalem … we could not go into the streets without danger to our lives (4:6, 12, 18). The prophet judged the desolate situation to be a consequence of sin and the punishment, which came by surprise, was God’s punishment and therefore this demanded greater vigilance and restricted mobility. This is a time of crisis and the prophets speak clearly: We believed ourselves invincible. We were going to quadruple world production in the next three decades. In 2021, we would have the highest growth so far this century. We killed 2,000 species per year, flaunting our brutality. We had established as moral that good is everything that increases capital and bad is what decreases it, and governments and armies looked after money but not happiness. It became normal for us to have the richest ten percent of the world, including in Colombia, keep 90 percent of income growth each year. We had excluded indigenous peoples and blacks as inferior. The young men had left the field because it was shameful to be peasants. We were funding research to turn back death beyond the 150th birthday. There were awkward questions. To silence them, we convinced ourselves that we could do without reality. With Baudrillard and other philosophers, we alienated ourselves in an “unrealized” world and chose powerful leaders who put truth aside. And we consumed junk and fantasies and emotions that we found on Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, celebrity news and even web pornography, into which we stuck our heads like ostriches. There were the indigenous peoples and the youth and groups of women and men who told us that we had lost the path of reality and mystery. That the conditions were in place for a planetary fraternity. We called them backward, and enemies of progress. Declaring oneself an atheist, which may be an honest intellectual decision, became for quite a few a demonstration of self-sufficiency. Homo Deus, “Man as God”, was the title of the book by Noah Harari that we devoured. But suddenly, reality arrived. The coronavirus removed us from the illusion of being gods. We are confused and humiliated watching the real numbers of the infected and dead rise. And we don’t know what to do. Faced with this reality, Harari now refers to a spirit of solidarity that he had not seen before (Francisco de Rous, SJ, We Believed Ourselves Invincible; https://www.amazonteam.org/we-believed-ourselves-invincible-francisco-de-roux/).
In light of this fall, not necessarily the fall of an ancient capital like Sodom nor the fall of some modern capital like Wuhan, Madrid, or New York nor the fall of a system such as capitalism … but in general terms, what will we learn with regard to the immediate future of humankind as this horrible night comes to an end?
Fifth and Final Lamentation (chapter 5): suffering of the elderly
The suffering of infants and children, women and widows, young and old, priests and prophets, and even the wealthy, has found an echo in the prophet’s lamentation: see them lying in the streets — young and old, boys and girls, killed by the sword of the enemy (2:21); the leaders of beautiful Jerusalem sit on the ground in silence. They are clothed in sackcloth and throw dust on their heads. The young women of Jerusalem hang their heads in shame (2:10); even the wealthy experience hard times: the people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the rubbish dumps for food (4:5); not even the elderly have been respected: the elders no longer sit in the city gates; the young men no longer dance and sing (5:14).
Many have said that the virus has not respected social class … rich and poor have been afflicted; people of all ages have been infected, but the elderly seem to be most vulnerable. Nursing homes have seen a large number of their residents infected and die. We do not yet know what form this pandemic will take in third world countries. In many parts of the world, people over the age of 70 must observe stricter confinement because they are more vulnerable. This has been a real tragedy for the elderly. The theologian Consuelo Vélez, when speaking about the suffering of humanity, states: At this moment God is accompanying each one of us so that we can accept this reality and move forward. God dies with each victim of this pandemic and heals with all those who have been able to recover. God is afraid with all those who are fearful of becoming infected and suffers the consequences that result from this virus, especially the economic consequences that fall upon those men and women who are poor. But doesn’t God have the power to deliver us in a definitive manner from this evil? Once again, however, we see that this reign of God that was proclaimed by Jesus is not the reign of God of power who magically changes things. Rather this God has become incarnated in the midst of humankind and therefore depends on each and every son and daughter to create a new story. To move forward from this pandemic, we need human effort on the scientific level to produce a vaccine and we also need generous people to accept this situation and overcome it. God has created the world and has entrusted the world to humankind, trusting that they will know how to manage and maintain the world according to God’s plan (from the article, “Este situación nos confronta con la limitación humana, con nuestra vulnerabilidad” [This situation makes us confront our human limitation and our vulnerability]).
The lamentations of the prophets which we have reflected upon in these pages and which we have attempted to apply to the present situation, open the door to joy. At the time when all these lamentations were an ever-present reality, the prophet Jeremiah, after reflecting on that reality, wrote a letter to the exiles and communicated to them a message of hope for a better future, a future that would begin after a time of uncertainty and suffering: Build homes and plan to stay. Plant gardens and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare … I will come and do for you all the good things that I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you … they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me (Jeremiah 29:5-7, 10-13).
Isn’t it incredible that these lamentations that were written over two thousand years ago can continue to speak to us today! This reality reveals that the words can indeed instruct us, exhort us, and encourage us in all situations. We simply need to maintain our faith. God guides history and, in his providence, he never abandons us. The Lord, who freed his people from captivity, knows what we are experiencing, and he will take us by the hand and lead us to safe harbors.
By: Orlando Escobar, CM
Cuba
