FOURTH WORD

MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAS THOU FORSAKEN ME?

Delivered by Belina S. Katigbak on Good Friday 2012 at Sta. Monica Parish, Mexico, Pampanga
Have you ever felt LONELY in your life? Have you ever been ABANDONED?
There are so many ways by which we get hurt, which brings about loneliness. Our goal
in life is to be happy and peaceful right? Often our efforts toward the attainment of our dreams
are in vain because we get hurt by the wrongdoings of people we love. Today, more than ever,
many families are WOUNDED by POVERTY, EMOTIONAL PAINS, SICKNESS, DEATH,
and DIVISIVE CONFLICTS. Statistics even show a significant number of crimes that are
rooted in family problems.
Think of the family that you just left a while ago. Do you have a family member who is
sick? Are you suffering from sadness because a member of the family has to work abroad due to
poverty? Are you still grieving over the loss of a loved one? Is your spouse separated from you
because of betrayal?
If you have experienced any of these sufferings, what did you do? A lot of people who
experienced sufferings might have resorted to alcohol, gambling, drugs, wasteful living, and
other forms of temporary relief, or even illicit relationship. Sometimes when our problems are
too great, we feel that God had abandoned us. God seemed so far away. We cannot see
Him or He even seems to be quiet.
Take a look at Jesus on the cross. At the height of His suffering, He has something to
teach usthat He too was not exempted from the emotional, psychological, and physical pains.
He groaned in agony. He was almost consumed and exhausted to death. He was dying to
save all mankindbut He already had foreseen the rejection of those who will not believe Him.
Jesus cried to His Father by praying Psalm 22, My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken
me?
Jesus feels our pains, too! As we are struggling in our own problems, like Jesus, let us
cry to God. Run to God. Plead for His great mercy.
Last March 2, 2009, barely one and half months after the death of my sister Rose, my
soul mate, and best friend, I had not recovered yet from my grief when all of a sudden I received
a call in my office urging me to go home because my husband was sick. I didnt realize the
seriousness of his sickness until after five days of confinement in a local hospital, he seemed to
be getting worse. Finally his siblings encouraged me to transfer him to St. Lukes via an
ambulance. I had very little money, not even enough to pay the ambulance. And so I had to
borrow!
I felt the piercing pain of aloneness, anxiety, physical exhaustion, and emotional
drain. Days passed without any promise of healing. As the hospital bills escalated, so my hopes
reached rock bottom. Nok, my husband, was on tube feeding (NGT). He had a catheter,

dextrose, and another tube was attached for his blood infusion. He was vomiting blood, and he
was incoherent. He could never be left alone because of a tendency to fall. It was a 24/7 caregiving. In a meeting with the team of doctors, I was forewarned that if in six months Nok could
not eat in a normal way, for the rest of his life he would be on Tube feeding. That really broke
me into tears. Because Noks love after me is EATING!
When I could no longer contain the agony and hopelessness, I cried to God. In my
aloneness I prayed. I wept. I humbled myself before God. Once I found myself in the
Blessed Sacrament, so great was my grief that the floor got wet from my tears. Another
time I found myself walking on my knees, then at an instance I fell prostrated on the floor
with my arms spread as on the cross!
I didnt realize it until later that God was with me every moment of my agony. He
was there in the face of the doctors who were so compassionate. He was there in the face of
friends, relatives, siblings, and everyone came to provide for the much needed help. He was
there in the face of my loved ones who footed the bill. He was there in the face of my brother-in
law who supported me financially through and through. And now, my brothers and sisters, there
in your midst is Nok almost recovered from a life threatening stroke three years ago!
Friends, I now invite you to bring to Jesus all your problemsno matter how great they
are, no matter how impossible the answer might be. Cry to Jesus. Go to Him. He is now
hanging on the cross. He is leading us in prayer of the Psalm. If we just continue the prayer of
Jesus.
PSALM 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
In you our fathers put their trust, and you delivered them
To you they cried and they were saved;
In you they trusted and were not frustrated.
Arun Gognas comment: (This will truly bless a lot of people. Congrats in advance. Please video
this and give me a copy so we can evaluate. Thanks)