Psalm for Sunday, November 30, 2014

 
Reflections
 
Psalm 80: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19  (Read)

“Give us new life, and we will call upon your name.”

The Psalm is a prayer to restore Israel,
at a time when the chosen people were
scattered and had withdrawn from God.

The Psalm is well adapted to our prayers during Advent.  We are a people scattered and separated from God, and we await His coming.  Our psalmist makes a direct appeal to God to shepherd us,
“Shepherd of Israel listen; come to save us.”

“Turn again Lord, attend to this vine.”  The Lord 
tends to His vineyard.  He protects a shoot planted 
by His right hand, the son of man whom God 
himself made strong.  The coming of Christ is
intended  to revive us, restore our strength.  As the 
Psalm says, “Give us new life, and we will call 
upon your name.”

We all need to be renewed from time to time when 
our faith grows lukewarm, when our hearts harden 
due to the sins that separate us from God.
We, like the Israelites, need to beg for God’s mercy, 
to petition the Lord and seek his peace, the peace
that will guard our hearts and minds, and restore us 
as His people.  We are after all, the work of His 
hands. (Isaiah 64:7)

Where does our hope for revival come from?  
It comes from our Savior, sent by the Lord, our 
cornerstone. In Him we are restored.  “Lord of
hosts restore us; let your face shine upon us, 
that we may be saved.”

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  The Psalm says, 'Lord, make us turn to you.'
Have you noticed at times when we stray off His path
how the Lord tugs at each of us so that we return to His ways.
Give an example from your own experience.

2.  Our psalmist is writing about the scattered people of Israel,
but his words may apply to each of us in our separation from God.
In what way do the Psalm's verses encourage you as we begin
the season of Advent?

Psalm for Sunday, November 23, 2014

 
Reflections 

Psalm 23:  1-2, 2-3, 5-6  (Read)

 
“He guides me in right paths.” 

This well known psalm is a prayer
that we offer to our Lord, the Good Shepherd.
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” 
We desire to be one of His sheep because He
looks after us and protects us and seeks us
out when we stray.  On the other hand we
do not want to be one of the goats that He
scatters.  Nor do we want to be on the wrong
side of His judgment when He separates the
sheep from the goats.

In our 1st reading the prophet Ezekiel tells us --
“The Lord God looks after his scattered sheep.”
(Ezekiel 34:12)  He brings us back to the sheep-hold
where He will bind up our wounds.  Jesus speaks 
of himself as the Good Shepherd, and we are 
drawn to Him, because He offers to lead us beside 
still waters, to grant us peace, and to restore us 
spiritually. 

Our Lord is the King of kings, and when He
sits on His glorious throne, He will separate
the sheep from the goats.  And the King will say
to His sheep, “Come, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you.”   Our Lord stands by us in the victory over death.
Our psalmist David says it this way, “You prepare 
a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

He anoints us; He fills our cup so that it overflows.
We are ready to go forth on our own journey
to discover who we are and how we are to treat 
others, especially the least among us. (Gospel, 
Matthew 25:45)  In our journey we learn that,
if we really want to have eternal life with our Lord, 
then we must become shepherds in our own right, 
here on earth.

Having been rescued by our Savior, and now 
counted among His obedient sheep, and ready 
to do His will, we are groomed to enter the kingdom
and to sit at the table that God sets for us.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house 
of the Lord forever.”

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  The Psalm makes it clear we want to stay on the right side of our 
Good Shepherd; we want to be guided in right paths for His name's sake.  
Explain what you are doing so that you will be placed on His right, and not 
on His left with the goats.

2.  As His good sheep, we are being groomed to do His will.  Our psalmist 
says that our Lord anoints us with oil.  Having been anointed by the Lord, 
how are you carrying out His will within your family and your community?

Psalm for Sunday, November 16, 2014

 
Reflections

Psalm 128:  1-2, 3, 4-5  (Read)

“Blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in His ways!”

The Psalm affirms that the blessings
for those who fear the Lord are
to be found in the recesses of our
homes, in the ordinary joys of family.

The worthy wife is valued in the Psalm
as a fruitful vine because she blesses
her home and family with the gift
of her handiwork.  As shown in the Gospel
she uses wisely what is given her as
her way of obeying the Lord and
holding Him in awe.

“Just so will they be blessed
who fear the Lord.”

If we fear the Lord and walk in His
ways, we will receive the blessings
of our labor, prosper, and grow old
gracefully in the company of our
wife and children.

Amen
 
Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  The Psalm assures us that we will be favored by the Lord, 
if we walk in His ways.  Speak of how you have been blessed 
by obeying the Lord and holding Him in awe.

2.  Our psalmist tells of a worthy wife who uses wisely what 
she has been given.  Give an example of how you have used 
your God-given talent to serve your family or your community.
 

Psalm for Sunday, November 9, 2014

Reflections

Psalm 46:  2-3, 5-6, 8-9  (Read)

“There is a stream whose runlets gladden the 
city of God, the holy dwelling of the most High.”

The Psalm speaks of a life giving stream that 
keeps the city of God undisturbed and viable.  
And the prophet Ezekiel affirms there are life giving 
waters flowing out from the sanctuary of the temple, 
which is the Church.  (Ezekiel 47:9)  This holy water
brings life and fruit to areas where nothing could
have grown before. 

It is the same for us.  The Church is the source of our
baptismal waters where we receive God's grace and
are called to spread hope and encouragement and the
Good News wherever we go.   For us, Christ is the 
source of that living water that flows from the temple 
of His body.

The Psalm speaks of the holy waters that flow round
the Church and round us personally.  These waters
gladden us.  These waters are a source of blessing for us.
They spring forth and nourish our inner being, purify us,
and are a source of healing.  We are after all the holy
dwelling of the Most High, the holy temple of God,
as St Paul tells us.   Our body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit that resides inside us.  (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Our psalmist says God is in the midst of His holy dwelling.
We understand this verse to mean—so long as God is
in our midst we shall not be disturbed.  “The Lord of
hosts is with us.”  He is our stronghold.  The divine
presence in the temple of our body assures us of our
security, despite a world around us that is falling apart.

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  The Psalm assures us there are holy waters all around us.
Speak of how you are gladdened by these holy waters and how
these waters give you the grace you need to proclaim the Gospel.

2.  Our psalmist affirms that the Lord of hosts is with us.  Tell of
how you are made whole and given power by the presence of the 
Holy Spirit living within you.

Psalm for Sunday, November 2, 2014

 
Reflections
 
Psalm 23:  1-3, 3-4, 5, 6  (Read)

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,   
 I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

The Psalm's words are a source of peace                                           
for us, a source of strength, a source of healing.
The Lord provides for us,
“There is nothing I shall want.”

The Lord restores us, for we tend to go astray
like sheep.  We belong under the care of
the Good Shepherd, who is guardian of our souls.
Jesus assures us that we who enter the sheepfold 
through Him will be saved and will find pasture.

Jesus promises to raise us up and to destroy death,
our biggest enemy.  Our psalmist promises that 
we are to be anointed by the Lord, “You anoint my 
head with oil, my cup overflows.”  We are made 
ready to go forth on our journey of eternal life 
with the Lord.

Like a Good Shepherd, Jesus says He should 
not lose anything of what the Father has given Him,
but that He should raise it on the last day.  (John 6: 39)

We lack nothing when we trust in the Lord.
We fear nothing.  Having been rescued by our Savior, 
and now counted among His obedient sheep, 
we are groomed to enter the Kingdom
and dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  The Psalm promises a heavenly banquet at a time when we
are faced with our greatest enemy, death.  "You spread the table
before me in the sight of my foes."   Speak of how you are 
comforted by the Psalm's verses.

2.  Our psalmist assures us that our Lord is the guardian of our
souls and that we shall have eternal life with Him.  Explain how 
confident you are that you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm for Sunday, October 26, 2014

Reflections                        

Psalm 18:  2-3, 3-4, 47, 51  (Read)

“The Lord Lives!”

The Psalm is saying that the Lord
is present to us, here and now, just as
He was when He delivered David
from his persecutors.

The really key revelation for us is
that the Lord lives.  He lives among us;
He is present in the Word.  Jesus is
in fact the Living Word; He is present
on the inside of us through the holy
Spirit.  He is alive in the Eucharist.
He humbled himself to share in our
humanity, so that we might have a
share in His divinity!

So Jesus is alive and well, standing
by us as our “rock of refuge, our
shield, our saving horn.”  We join
with David in praising God and loving
Him with all our heart and all our mind,
as Jesus reminds us to do in the Gospel.
(Matthew 22: 37)

How do we apply the Psalm's verses to
our lives?  We turn to our Lord to equip
us for the battles that we fight against the
evil one.  Jesus becomes our fortress!

In this Psalm we hear David, crying out
to the Lord, as one cries out to his savior.
“My God, my rock of refuge, my shield,
my saving horn, my stronghold.”  David
has just emerged after being saved
by God from his enemies.  David has been
rescued by that same God of compassion
and mercy that is present to us.

David praises his savior in language that
is familiar to us as his spiritual descendents,
“The Lord lives!  Blessed be my rock!
Exalted be God my savior!”

For David has been delivered from the
forces of evil that surrounded him.
And that same deliverance is available to
us, so long as we surrender ourselves
to God and love God with all of our heart
and soul and strength.

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  The Psalm affirms for us that our Lord lives!  Tell of how
the Lord is present to you in your daily life.  How does He reveal
Himself to you?

2.  Our psalmist extols God our savior, and speaks of the Lord
as the horn of salvation.  When and how do you turn to the Lord
as your rock of refuge?

Psalm for Sunday, October 19, 2014

Reflections 
 
Psalm 96:  1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10 (Read)

“Awesome is He; give to the Lord
the glory due His name!”

The Psalm is a message to Israel’s 
neighbors, and to the rest of the world, that there is one true God.  “Tell God’s glory among the nations; among all peoples, God’s marvelous deeds.”

The Israelites have returned from exile and have been brought back 
from near death as a people.   The 
remnant has survived, and the 
Israelites have been delivered by 
the one and only God. 

And so they sing a “new song,” celebrating the
“newness of God” that comes with the joy of 
praising Him as sovereign.  “Sing to the Lord a 
new song; sing to the Lord, all you lands.”
As the Psalm says, we are all summoned to 
adoration of our sovereign.  We are called
to give Him glory and praise.

In the 1st reading the prophet Isaiah confirms
there is no other God besides Him. (Isaiah 45: 5)
The gods of other nations are mere idols, and they 
all do nothing, says our psalmist.  But our God made 
the heavens; He is to be praised and feared.

And how do we praise Him?
How do we give the Lord the glory due His name?
We engage in works of faith; we undertake a labor 
of love for Him, as St. Paul tells us in today's 
2nd reading. (1 Thessalonians 1: 3)

All peoples are invited to recognize our God,
and pledge to obey Him.  “Say among the nations, 
“The Lord is King; the world will surely stand fast, 
never to be shaken.”  

And having acknowledged that God is sovereign,
how should we and all the nations behave? 
The Gospel tells us how --  Jesus says,
“Repay to God what belongs to God.” (Matthew 22: 21)
And we understand our calling,
“Give to the Lord the glory due His name!”

Amen
 

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  The Psalm exhorts us to "Sing to the Lord a new song."  
How does your song go when you sing praise to God?  What 
do you have to say to the Lord?

2.  Our psalmist encourages us to "Give the Lord glory and honor."  
We are called to give glory to God in the works of faith that we do.  
Speak of how you give God the glory in what you do.