Monday, March 18, 2024

Psalm for Sunday, March 24, 2024


Reflections



“My God, my God, why have you 
abandoned me?”

David writes this psalm almost as 
though it were planned to be part 
of the Passion of Christ.  In fact 
the psalm becomes the prayer of 
Christ at the time of his crucifixion 
and speaks of the suffering that our 
Savior experiences on our behalf.

People are the same today as they were 
back then, when Jesus was being led to 
the cross.  We scoff at him; we mock him; 
we wag our heads and hurl insults at him.

Why?
Because he becomes contemptible in 
our eyes. He reminds us that we are a 
sinful people; he convicts us; he catches 
us in the lie;  he embarrasses us; he 
exposes us; he accuses us of being 
hypocrites. 

He holds us to a higher standard;
He speaks directly to God; 
He claims to be God's Son; 
and we reject him for this; and mock him. 
We do not move to assist him. 
Let God rescue him – 
“He relied on the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, if he loves him.” 

These words of the psalm are the same 
words used by those who conspired against 
Jesus when he was dying on the cross. 
They did not realize that the suffering and 
death of an innocent servant would restore 
life for sinful man. The words they spoke 
were to be fulfilled, not by Jesus coming 
down from the cross, but by sinful humanity 
like us being delivered, forgiven, 
and lifted up. 

We are reminded by St Paul in today's second 
reading that Christ takes the form of a slave, 
obedient even to death for our sake. 
(Philippians 2:7-8) 
Isaiah in today's first reading speaks 
about the Messiah long before his birth and 
predicts that he will be beaten, and his beard 
will be plucked. (Isaiah 50:4-7)
But the servant does not rebel (as Isaiah tells us).
He knows that he will not be put to shame. 

God the Father is not far off, even when Jesus lies 
hanging on the cross. The psalm describes the 
Passion of Christ, and we know that what seemed 
like a moment of weakness for Christ became a 
source of strength for sinful humanity. 

Ultimately God reverses this righteous man’s 
condition.  As our psalmist says, “But you, O Lord, 
be not far from me; O my help, hasten to aid me.” 
Hope returns, the righteous man is delivered, and he 
celebrates his deliverance – “I will proclaim your name 
to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will 
praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him.”

Amen
 
Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.   Were you part of the crowd of evildoers who closed in on Christ, that our 
psalmist speaks about?   Tell of what part you play even today in mocking Christ.

2.   The psalm asks, 'My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?'  Do you 
believe that our Lord was truly abandoned by the Father?

  

Monday, March 11, 2024

Psalm for Sunday, March 17, 2024


Reflections

Psalm 51: 3-4, 12-13, 14-15  (Read)

“Create a clean heart in me, O God.”                                                                         















This Sunday's Psalm is David’s mea culpa  
and is written after Nathan calls attention 
to David’s adultery with Bathsheba.  We are 
shown in the Psalm that although David was 
chosen by God to be king, even David sins 
gravely.  But God in His compassion and 
goodness can blot out David’s offense, 
no matter how grave.

David realizes that only God, in His mercy,
can cleanse David from his sins.
  David’s sins, 
like our own, are offensive to God first and 
foremost; we are all born of a sinful nature.
David calls on the Lord to blot out his offense,
knowing that the Lord, in His abundant 
compassion, will wash away his guilt.

David’s words are a prayer of repentance and recall 
for us the power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
“A clean heart create for me, O God; renew within me 
a steadfast spirit. Give me back the joy of your salvation.”
Where else can we turn when we are separated from God?
Who else has the healing power to cleanse us?

“Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me 
your Holy Spirit.”  David reminds us that without the Holy 
Spirit we are ruled by the desires of this world.  And without 
the Holy Spirit we cannot bear the fruits of the Spirit,
which we are called to do.

The people of Jeremiah’s time were given the assurance 
that David sought. They were assured that the Lord would 
forgive their evildoing, their own infidelity to God, and that 
their sin would be remembered no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)
On David's part we can almost hear his loud cries and see 
his tears, as he offers this psalm as prayer and seeks his 
own inner renewal.  When Christ was in the flesh, this is 
how He himself prayed, as we are reminded in Sunday's 
second reading. (Hebrews 5:7)

David prays that God will create for him a clean heart,
because God alone can bring about this transformation.
We, too, are called to seek our Savior’s mercy for our sinful 
ways, especially during this Lenten season.  We, too, are 
given an opportunity to be restored in the joy of His Salvation, 
to offer up what is dead within us, so that we can again bear 
fruit and be good witnesses for the Lord. (John 12: 24)
In that way, we will then teach the wicked, 
God's ways,  
and our mouths will proclaim His praise.

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist King David cites the greatness of the Lord's compassion in calling 
upon God to wipe out his offense.  Even though David was an adulterer and 
a murderer, he knew that he could call upon the Lord to restore him and create 
for him a clean heart.   Does this give you confidence that no matter how serious 
your sins may be, you can call upon God to be thoroughly cleansed?   Explain.

2.  As our psalmist implies, it is not enough to call upon God to create a clean 
heart within us.  We must also ask for a steadfast spirit, for the Holy Spirit to be 
sustained within us.  Tell how the Holy Spirit is working within you and what you 
are inspired to do through the gifts of the Spirit.


Monday, March 4, 2024

Psalm for Sunday, March 10, 2024


Reflections

Psalm 137: 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6   (Read)

“How could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?”

This Sunday's Psalm is a prayer of the Jewish people 
in exile in Babylon.  As Sunday's 1st reading tells us,
the Lord became angry with the people of Judah
because of their many infidelities.  (2 Chronicles 36:14-16)
And when they mocked the messenger of God, 
God allowed them to be carried off to Babylon as slaves. 
“By the rivers of Babylon, we sat mourning and weeping.” 

But God's chosen people could not forget Jerusalem
and the covenant God had made with them.  “If I forget 

you Jerusalem, may my right hand wither.  May my tongue 
stick to my palate if I do not remember you.”   And more 
important, God did not forget them. 

It is the same way with us.  We sin against God and He 

allows us to be carried off into a kind of self imposed exile,
where we separate ourselves from Him for a time. 

“How could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?”
When our hearts are hardened by sin, how can we sing 

a song of the Lord?   When we are in the darkness because 
we prefer the darkness, how can we sing a song of the Lord? 
When we are separated from the Lord and indulging in things 

of the world, how can we sing a song of the Lord? 
It is only when we are in the light, then can we sing a song 

of the Lord.

As Sunday’s 2nd reading tells us, “Even when we are dead in our 

transgressions, God brings us to life with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:5)

And the Gospel reminds us in a powerful way that although we 

are a wicked people who hate the light, God sent His Son not to 
condemn us, but to save us and lead us into the light. (John 3: 17-21)
That is how we free ourselves from our own spiritual exile. 
It is only when we are in the light, when we become a light unto 

the world, then can we sing a song of the Lord!

Amen



Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  This Sunday's Psalm Response is, "Let my tongue be silenced, 

if I ever forget you!"  When you are separated from God because of sin, have you noticed how it becomes difficult to praise and worship Him?  In a way your tongue becomes silenced for a time.  Explain how you can get your voice back and start again singing a song of the Lord.


2.  Our psalmist tells us that it was difficult for the Jewish people captive 
in Babylon to sing the songs of Zion in a foreign land.  Is it sometimes difficult for you to speak of your faith in the company of non-believers?    If you are being persecuted by a world that does not acknowledge you as one of its own, how do you overcome your reticence and speak boldly of your faith?



Monday, February 26, 2024

Psalm for Sunday, March 3, 2024


Reflections




“The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.” 


















This Sunday's Psalm celebrates the law of the Lord, 
first given to the Israelites that day on Mt. Sinai in the 
desert when Moses received God's commandments.
(Exodus 20:1-17)
As the Psalm says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, 
refreshing the soul.”

But more than a set of rules that we cannot hope 
to follow, God’s commandments give us wisdom; 
they ‘rejoice our hearts; they are more desirable 
than gold, sweeter also than honey.’

The Word is the same way; even though we may be 
convicted by the Word, our Savior Lord Jesus came 
to fulfill the law and make us right with the Lord.
And just as the disciples came to believe in the 
scriptures when Jesus was raised, we too know 
Him as the ‘Word made flesh,’ the one who 
perfected the ‘wisdom of God.’

Our Psalmist David shows us that obeying the law 
does not prevent us from being happy.  Instead, 
obeying the Law “brings much reward.”
We may think of statutes as something intended 
to control us or restrict us, but as our psalmist 
explains, the law of the Lord is in fact a source of joy, 
something to be desired, because the law gives us 
wisdom and provides us with something
we can trust.

Today’s Psalm tells us about the joy that is stirred u
in our hearts when we follow the Lord’s commands.
“The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.”
The Word and the statutes endure forever.
They are refreshing to the soul; they enlighten the eye. 
It is through the Word that we know His commandments
and through this Psalm that we know His law is a source 
of refreshment, a source of joy.
His statutes do not bind us, they set us free.  

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist says that the ordinances of the Lord are 'sweeter than honey.'   
How can it be that, instead of being harsh, the commandments of the Lord 
are sweet to the taste?  Explain.

2.  Our psalmist says that the commandments of the Lord are a source of joy --
they 'rejoice the heart.'   Tell about how obeying the commandments can be a 
source of joy in your life.


Monday, February 19, 2024

Psalm for Sunday, February 25, 2024


Reflections

 
Psalm 116:  10, 15, 16-17, 18-19   (Read)


“ I believed, even when I said, I am greatly afflicted.”  

 














This Sunday's Psalm recalls words Abraham might have 
prayed when he was called on to sacrifice his son Isaac.  
“I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving; I will pay my vows to 

the Lord.”  Who else could have kept the faith at a time like that?  
Yet Abraham’s devotion to the Lord did not waver.  (Genesis 22:10-12)
We may not be called upon to offer up so heavy a sacrifice, 
but we are commanded to listen to our God and pay our vows.


Abraham may have used words like those of our psalmist,
“I believed even when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted.'”  

God relented and provided a substitute for Isaac,
“Too costly in the eyes of the Lord is the death of the faithful.”
But God did not spare His own son, as St Paul reminds us in 
Sunday's 2nd reading. (Romans 8:32)

And for whom did God sacrifice His son Jesus?  It was for us 

that God handed over His beloved Son.  Jesus’ death on the 
cross has given us life.  As people of faith we are chosen by God 
for life.  We pray that we are not put to the test as Abraham was, 
but we might at least, as the Psalm says, “Pay our vows to the 

Lord in the presence of all His people.”

The psalmist says, “O Lord, I am your servant; you have loosed 

my bonds.”   We too are made free by becoming the Lord's servant.  
That is how it is when we follow His commandments and do His will.  

It is not something that binds us.  Rather, it is something that sets us free.
We take delight in serving the Lord.

Amen



Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist speaks of the power of his faith, even in the darkest of times,
"I believed, even when I said, 'I am greatly afflicted.'"   Give an example of
 how your faith has strengthened you in difficult times.

2.  The Psalm says, 'O Lord, I am your servant; you have loosed my bonds.'   
Explain how it is that, having been freed from your chains, you wish to serve
the Lord and become yoked to Him.



Monday, February 12, 2024

Psalm for Sunday, February 18, 2024


Reflections




“Good and upright is the Lord, 
He shows sinners the way.”



This Sunday's Psalm is 
a prayer for forgiveness 
and guidance, a good 
way to begin the season 
of Lent.  Our psalmist 
David recalls the covenant 
the Lord made with Noah 
(Genesis 9: 8-15)and David 
writes, “Remember your 
compassion and love, 
O Lord, for they are ages old.”

Later in the psalm David affirms, 
“Good and upright is the Lord, 
thus He shows sinners the way.”  
Who else could lead us out of the pit 
of our sins but God’s Son, the righteous 
one who suffered for us unrighteous 
ones, as St Peter reminds us in this 
Sunday's second reading. 
(1 Peter 3:18-22)  

Peter says Baptism doesn’t remove 
the dirt from our bodies; it doesn’t 
remove our sinful nature.  But it does 
allow us to receive the Holy Spirit 
within us, because without the Spirit, 
we are powerless against the devil.

We are blessed to have a God who 
does not disregard us.  On the contrary, 
He is a caring, compassionate God, 
willing to humble himself to share in 
our humanity, so that we might come 
to share in His divinity.  Who else 
would have such regard for sinners, 
for believers who disobey him?  
It is He who encourages us when our 
tongues confess – “The Lord guides the 
humble rightly, and teaches the humble 
His way.”

In this Sunday's Gospel, our Lord Jesus 
tells us what we are to do as we prepare 
for the most important season of the year,  
“Repent and believe in the Gospel.”  (Mark 1:15)
And in response we join with our psalmist 
and say, “You are God my Savior.”

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection  

1.  Our Psalm speaks of being taught by the Lord ("Teach me your paths; guide me
 in your truth and teach me; He teaches the humble His way.")   Are you a good student of the Lord?  Tell about what you have learned or are learning from the Lord.

2.  Our psalmist says, "The Lord shows sinners the way."  As we enter the season 

of Lent, we could all use some guidance and help as we strive for repentance and 
to be bolder in our faith.  Explain what you will do during Lent to become a more 
obedient Christian and a better witness for your faith.