We can identify easily with the double expression “harassed and helpless”, a wide expression of frustration and naked need. There can indeed be a sense of aimlessness, “like sheep without a shepherd”, as we look for direction in life, values to live by and a sense of overall meaning and purpose. Dennis O’Driscoll captured it in his poem Missing God:

Miss Him when the TV scientist
explains the cosmos through equations,
leaving our planet to revolve on its axis
aimlessly, a wheel skidding in snow.

The message of the kingdom is no less real — rooted in compassion — and relevant today as never before. In the pithy expression of Bishop David Jenkins: “There is God. He is as he is in Jesus. There is hope.”

Prayer
God of the cosmos, you come close to use all in the compassion of Jesus. As we take to heart his proclamation of the kingdom, show us how we can be bearers of the good news to all around us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

K O’Mahony OSA