Gall Duw deimlo’n bell i ffwrdd weithiau ond nid yw byth yn ein gadael. Tad Richard yn myfyrio ar ddarlleniadau heddiw o’r Offeren.
God may sometimes feel far away but he never leaves us. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.
Ydych chi erioed wedi chwilio am rywbeth coll, ac yna sylweddoli ei fod yno trwy’r amser? Aml waith rydw i wedi chwilio am fy sbectol heb sylweddoli ei bod ar fy nghorun drwy’r amser! Weithiau hefyd bydd panic mawr cyn darganfod fy ffôn neu fy allweddi – chwilio gwyllt o gwmpas y tŷ cyn eu gweld yn fy llaw.
Weithiau cawn yr un teimlad o fod ar goll yn ysbrydol a meddwl fod Duw wedi ein gadael yn amddifad. Fodd bynnag, mae ein darlleniadau heddiw yn ein hatgoffa Ei fod Ef yma bob amser, yn ffyddlon bob amser ac wrth ein hochor. Ni sydd ddim yn ei gydnabod.
Yn y darlleniad cyntaf cawn bobl Israel yn teimlo’n amddifad. Dywedant “Mae Duw wedi fy ngadael i, mae Duw wedi fy anghofio fi”. Ond mae Duw yn ateb yn syth gyda’r geiriau gogoneddus: “All gwraig anghofio y plentyn sy’n sugno? Efallai gall y rhain anghofio ond fydda i byth yn eich anghofio chi”. Er ei bod hi’n anodd iddynt weld hyn, ni adawodd Duw erioed mo’i blant. Bydd yn eu hadfer i’w mamwlad yn fuan.
Yn yr Efengyl mae’r Iesu’n amlygu nad yw’r meirw hyd yn oed wedi eu colli i Dduw. “Mae’r awr yn dod, ac mae yma nawr” meddai’r Iesu, “pan fydd y meirw yn clywed llais Mab Duw, a bydd y rhai hynny yn byw”. Mae’r Iesu yn siarad o brofiad achos teimlodd Ef ei fod wedi ei amddifadu ar y Groes. Yno, ymbiliodd ar y Tad i’w gofio. Ond, mae’r Atgyfodiad yn dangos na fu i Dduw adael yr Iesu yn union fel na fydd yn ein gadael ni. Mae hwn yn brif ategiad o’r hyn a ddywed yr Iesu yn yr Efengyl heddiw, “Mae’r Tad yn caru’r Mab ac yn amlygu iddo popeth y mae yn ei wneud”. Ni ellir torri byth yr undod rhwng yr Iesu a’r Tad, beth bynnag all ddigwydd yn y byd. Mae’r un peth yn wir am ein perthynas ni â’r Iesu. Pa beth bynnag a ddaw i’n gofidio, bydd Ef gyda ni bob amser.
Have you ever thought that you have lost something, only to realise it was there all the time? Many times I have gone searching or my glasses, only to realise they are sitting on top of my head! On other occasions, I have not been able to find my phone or keys. With a growing sense of panic I go hunting around the house, and then notice I’m actually holding them in my hand!
Sometimes we can feel lost spiritually, and feel that God has deserted us. Our readings today remind us that he is always there, always faithful, always by our side. It’s just that sometimes we don’t realise it.
In our first reading today, the people of Israel are feeling bereft during their time of Exile in Babylon. “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me”, they say. But God immediately answers them with wonderful words of reassurance: “Can a woman forget her nursing child? Even these may forget, yet I will never forget you”. Even though it may be hard for them to perceive, God has never abandoned his people, and will soon restore them to their homeland.
In the Gospel, Jesus is clear that even those who have died have not been lost to God. “An hour is coming, and is now here”, Jesus says, “when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” Jesus is able to say this because he himself experienced that feeling of loss and abandonment on the Cross, when he cried out to the Father, “why have you forsaken me”. Yet the Resurrection shows that God had never left Jesus, just as he will never leave us. It is the supreme confirmation of what Jesus says earlier in today’s Gospel, “the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing”. That unity between Jesus and the Father can never be broken, not even by the worst thing that the world can do. The same is true in respect of Jesus and us. Whatever darkness and loss we may endure, he will always be with us, and will never abandon us.
Yr Offeren heddiw yn St Dyfrig a St Samson am 6.30pm.
Mass today is in St Dyfrig and St Samson at 6.30pm.
South Cardiff Ministry Area 