Journey to Jerusalem Day 35

Tuesday, March 31 Psalm 130
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

William F. Faber's best-known hymn proclaims the "wideness in God's mercy." The good father captures just here the importance of Psalm 130 for the Church: "There is mercy with the Saviour/There is healing in his blood."
Forgiveness. Mercy. Plenteous redemption. Words that are simply lost to those who either have not been or will not be embraced by the loving kindness of Jesus Christ.
Archbishop Rowan Williams succinctly discerns that our overarching mission lies in seeing that "the sufferer is drawn into the action of Christ that ultimately overcomes all sin and grief."

For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man's mind,
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
--W.F. Faber