As my sister, Mary Ruth, lay dying at the age of 42 years,she asked me, “Will I be remembered?” Her question is an important one. We all wonder whether the world will ever remember that we once lived. There is a haunting song entitled, “Once There Was”, composed and recorded by Tim Buckley, in which a young man asks the girl who has left him whether she will ever remember him. In the HBO Vietnam War documentary,“Letters From Home”, this song was played following the reading of a letter from a young soldier to his girlfriend. It is revealed that the young soldier was killed in the Tet Offensive.
There was an elderly nun who hearing that she had Alzheimer’s was distraught because she would not be able to remember who Jesus is. The nun’s spiritual director listened, then gently responded, “Even though you may forget who Jesus is, Jesus will never forget you.” The first reading from the prophet Baruch tells a downtrodden Jerusalem, that God has not forgotten them. Rather,God will fill Jerusalem with splendor, and all of God’s Chosen People from the East and the West will rejoice for they are remembered by God.
In the summer of 1992, I composed a hymn for the choirs at St Hubert, based on this reading from Baruch. In the text of the song, I paraphrased what we hear today. “Let us prepare a way for the Lord, let us put on the splendor of God forever. Let us gather with all people and rejoice for we are remembered by God. Upon the heights let us stand and look East and look West, and see all of God’s children, whom God brings into our midst with mercy and justice. May we be clothed with God’s robe of salvation. Wrap around us God’s mantle of justice. And go forth led in joy by God’s light that grows within us.”
During this time of increasing darkness and cold,it is easy to feel despondent and isolated. We can find ourselves in a crowd of people and still feel all alone. The scriptures for today reminds us that we are never alone. God calls us to take off our robe of mourning and misery and put on the splendor of glory from God forever. Why? God will never forget us. God will always remembers us.
