In Catholic liturgies throughout Holy Week, we hear Isaiah’s Songs of the Suffering Servant. As part of a Holy Week observation this week, I will be spending times with the images that Isaiah has presented to us, and write a poem reflection on each song.
SONG 1: Is 50:4-7
The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame. (NAB)
MY POEM REFLECTION ON THE PSALM
Oh my people,
As a mother hears the cries
Of her children, so have I
Heard your cries of pain.
Your misery, upon which
My gaze has seen, moves
My heart with compassion.
The despair of being forgotten,
Forsaken by the One
From whom you were created,
Swells within you, but
I have not forgotten you,
Nor will I leave you forsaken.
I wear your image, and,
In total solidarity with you,
Have put on your pain
Like one putting on a coat.
Its heavy weight of shame
Hangs from my shoulders,
Memories of the blows from abuse
Rain on my back
Like the lash of a whip.
My words to you are a balm,
Like that gently wiped
On the angry welts
Raised upon the skin;
A source of hope to lift
Your beaten spirits from the dust.
For I do not count you
Among the disgraced,
But among my most beloved.
And hold you as close to me
As my breath.
(c) 2022 by Robert C Wagner, all rights reserved.
