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Esther C: 12-25
Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.
“And now, come to help me, an orphan.
Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion
and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,
so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.
Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness.”
The Word of the Lord.
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“Help me, who am alone and have no help but you, O LORD,” Queen Esther prays in our first reading.
She is a Jew who has married a foreign king, concealing her true identity. One day while in his court, Esther overhears a plot to exterminate the Jewish people.
The king has no idea that, if carried out completely, he would also be killing his wife. Frozen with fear, Esther retreats into the inner room of her heart and pleads with God.
“Help me, who am alone and have no help but you, O LORD.”
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Here, Esther not only prays for herself; she also prays on behalf of God’s people. Her anguish represents the cry of the poor, those persecuted, repressed, expelled by worldly powers, without having any defense of their own, except their faith in God.
By the end of the story, Esther is filled with courage as she confronts her husband, the king. Thankfully, he relents of his evil ways.
Esther reminds us that there is no need too great, nor any petition too small, to place in the hands of God. As the Psalmist proclaims, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.”
Jesus reiterates this truth in today’s Gospel, proclaiming, “Ask. Seek. Knock. It will be given to you.”
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Perhaps we are being invited this Lent to develop the humble spirituality of Esther.
When we are confronted with an impossible challenge, when we feel oppressed or afraid, instead of giving up or taking matters into our own hands, we can turn to the Lord like Esther, who was heard because of her sincerity and child-like faith.
May her prayer be answered again for us today. In her words, that God would, “Turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness.”
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Image credits: (1) Sojourners (2) Daniel Returned to Jerusalem, WordPress (3) Passionist Nuns