“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice!” O Lord, loving God, loving Savior.  You who call us beloved, who made us in beauty, who make us the object of your gaze and the desire of your heart. You who speak to us in great silence, who uncovers our shame then captures our hearts. O Mighty One, you who are the cause of our joy, the food that feeds our poor spirits and refreshes our weary souls. O Gracious God, you who are the one who hungers for our attention, who cries out for our love, who desires our lives, who causes light to shine from our eyes, the one who brings out the goodness of our hearts, the one who touches our very existence and causes our very being to shake. O Lord, the source of abundant grace and endless mercy, hear our cry. When angry words and hateful conversations hurt us, when the uncharitable actions and lack of compassion of others wound us, hear our cry for it causes us to think of past hurts, healed wounds, unpleasant experiences. We focus on the times we have been reduced to nothing, an empty container, a mere spectacle, a piece of lint, a dust particle blowing in wind and how these moments make us feel so belittled, leaving no room for options or sympathy, no escape, nothing to do but cry like a child, humbled, humiliated, reduced to tears. O Loving God and Faithful Father, I think about the many times I have experienced this helplessness or was overcome by hopelessness or became defenseless, or felt exposed, vulnerable, all alone, reduced to lowliness, meekness, drowning in a torrent of tears, then more tears, a flood gate of tears. Nothing can one do but cry. No one hears a silent voice, no one cares about a weeping heart, no one can ever understand the soul that cries from deep within. But you O Lord, God of the poor and abandoned hear what no one else hears. You see what no else sees for your penetrating gaze pierces through our hardened exteriors, our human mask, our blank stare. You gently touch what is broken, heal what is hurting and beyond repair. Out of the depths of our darkness, you hear our cry. Even through the noise of indifference and the chatter of the arrogant and the boasting of the powerful and the laughing of the ignorant you hear us, O Lord. You hear our cry, you hear our voice. “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication.”