Lamentations: Never an end to the Suffering
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

This week is an awful week. First there is the 20^th Anniversary of 9/11 when commercial jets were highjacked and flown into the World Trade Center, lower New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and into a field in Pennsylvania. Almost three thousand people were killed and there were many wounded, physically and emotionally. Bad enough it happened, but now the media bombards us with “sensationalized horror shows” about these sad events. I am sick to my stomach! No, there is no easy way to tell the stories, but let’s first have some empathy with the families involved, and then with the rest of us.

Also, this week, the USCCB (United States Council of Catholic Bishops) sent around, by e-mail (to both of my email addresses), invitations to ask for “more information.” That’s great, more people should know about what’s going on, and how to get involved in the Catholic Pro-Life movement. But for the last 3-4 weeks I’ve been getting a ton of “snail mail” from Pro-Life organizations I’ve never heard of (they are coming out of the woodwork), and I know I can’t contribute to most of them because I don’t have money even for the necessary expenses.  I get 15-20 letters per day, and that must stop. Well, most of it is going into the trash bin, not because I want to, but because I don’t have a choice. One outfit had the audacity to call me on the phone to inquire how much would be “easy for me to donate.” I hung up on that call. There are a lot of scammers out there. Watch out!

I have become an octogenarian. I am feeling OK, but the doctor tells me otherwise. I do not want to spend the whole day sorting, reading, and getting chagrinned about all that mail. Yes, there is a lot of suffering out there and I’ll help where I can, but I will not donate to government requests for surveys. No way! And those organization that tell me they must have a reply in six days…forget it! Or begging letters that look like a bill with the word “Statement” at the top. I wasn’t born yesterday. If you really need a donation, you’ve got to ask nicely. I don’t owe you anything. Leave the surveys home. I’ve filled out some, but no more. First, they send it to me with my first name spelled out with a middle initial, and an abbreviated first name, then just a first initial. So, I get three pieces of mail that are undesirable.

I know I’ve been ranting for almost a whole page and that is not usually what my reflections are about. I suppose the underlying reason why non-profit organizations send begging letters is to help other people. But the question is, are they really helping those who are suffering? I don’t think we’ll ever know.

Worthy causes that rate high in my book are:

1.      Catholic Pro-Life

2.      The poor, particularly those who suffered injustices due to war (those who suffered in the Holocaust come to mind).

3.      Haiti

Usually after those, I’m out of donation money for the month. Some months I’m so tight, I can’t donate the following month. I donate to the Catholic Church, monthly, too. And to EWTN: my lifeline as long as I do not have a car to get to church with.

It is 5:00 pm, time to see about an evening meal. Then I’ll sink into my recliner and hope there is a peaceful show that doesn’t keep me awake at night. 
The book of Lamentations, probably written by the prophet Jeremiah, is a dark but beautiful book that reflects the pain of injustice and human loss. It’s filled with crushing emotions: anger, desperation, fear, loneliness, hopelessness. If you are personally wounded when reading Lamentations, you may feel strangely understood and comforted. Suggest you read Chapter 3 to get into it. (from Overview, Lamentations, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lamentations+3&version=NABRE )

Fred Schaeffer, OFS
September 10, 2021

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