One of the appointed Psalms for the Daily Prayer of the Church is Psalm 40 where the Psalmist prays:
I waited patiently upon the Lord;
he stooped to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay;
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God;
many shall see, and stand in awe,
and put their trust in the Lord.
Happy are they who trust in the Lord!
they do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.
Great things are they that you have done, O Lord my God!
how great your wonders and your plans for us!
There is none who can be compared with you. (Ps. 40:1-5).
Yesterday afternoon I landed in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. After I passed through the visa station, where you pay a $10 fee to enter the country, immigration and customs, I went into the sea of humanity that ebbs and flows immediately outside the airport. On the way into the city, I witnessed what I have on the many trips that I have had to this part of the Dominican: discalced women carrying cargoes of various sorts on their heads, rows of shacks passing for housing, donkeys pulling carts, and as I get closer to the city, the many dwelling in great poverty gated off from the few vastly wealthy who dwell behind barbed wired fences so that the 2 worlds will not collide. When I switched on the evening news, the story was all about the entrenched corruption here and the start of a major corruption trial. This has been the history of this place for over 500 years when Columbus first set foot on the island of Hispanola. As I am surrounded by this human history, the words of the Psalmist echo in my head:
I waited patiently upon the Lord;
he stooped to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay;
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God…
In the midst of natural beauty and abundance, the vast majority of the populace here is waiting patiently for the Lord, for God to stoop down and hear their cry, to pull them out of the desolate pit. Sadly enough, throughout the years it has been the institutional church which has helped those in power to keep them in the pit. What are we as Christians called to? Are we called to throw our lot in with those who use their power to accumulate more wealth and to keep others in the pit, or are we called to something different? Are we called to help put a new song on the lips of the poor? What do we do in our own lives which oppress those around us?
Let us pray: Gracious God, you have told us that you hear the cry of the poor, and that you seek not sacrifice but hearts turned toward you which acknowledges that every human being is made in your likeness and image. Send the Holy Spirit to give us the grace to live into your call for us to be more like your Son Jesus and to put a new song on the lips of the oppressed. Amen.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
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