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 God’s son, and to imitate Him.
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.
Reflections
Psalm 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (Read)
“Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth
to those who keep your covenant."
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,
the unrighteous ones, as St Peter
reminds us in this
Sunday's 2nd 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. According to our psalmist, 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.
Reflections
Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 11 (Read)
“I confess my faults to the Lord.”
This Sunday's Psalm is one of David’s
penitential psalms. David sings out about
the heaviness of his sin that weighs upon him
so long as he keeps silent. The Psalmist’s sins
were hidden in his heart. Then, when he declares
his sin, and confesses his faults, his burden
is lifted and his guilt is taken away.
David’s sins may not have been so obvious
as the sores on the lepers described in this
Sunday's lst reading. (Leviticus 13:1-2)
But like those same lepers, David is compelled
to cry out, “Unclean, unclean,” and to seek
God’s forgiveness in order to be healed.
Just as David throws himself on the mercy
of the Lord, so does the leper in today's Gospel,
who kneels before Jesus and moves the
Lord to pity. (Mark 1:40-41)
The leper in the Gospel shouts for joy after he
is made clean. The same thing can happen to us
when we receive the Sacrament of Confession
and we are made clean inside. We may not be joyful
for the same reasons as the leper, but as Jesus says,
it is what's inside our hearts that needs to be purified.
And having been cleansed from within,
we really have something to be joyful about.
We are all pitiful in the sight of Christ,
but once on our knees, having confessed and repented
of our sins, there is hope for us whose sins are forgiven.
As it says in the Psalm, “Blessed is he whose fault
is taken away, whose sin is covered.”
We all need a spiritual cleansing from time to time
if we are to obtain a pure heart. They say confession
is good for the soul, and from what the Psalm tells us,
confessing our faults will lead us to be glad
in the Lord and rejoice.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. This Sunday's Psalm Response is, "I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble,
and you fill me with the joy of salvation." Tell of a 'time of trouble' in your life
when you turned to the
Lord, confessed your faults, and were filled with
the 'joy of
salvation.'
2. Our psalmist is grateful for God's gift of forgiveness; having confessed his sin
before God, he is a new creation thanks to the grace of God. Give an example
of how your anxiety over your sin ceases when you bow down and confess
your faults to the Lord.
Reflections
Psalm 147: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 (Read)
“Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.”
The Psalm says that the Lord “rebuilds Jerusalem”
and “heals the brokenhearted, binds up our wounds.”
There is comfort in these words for all of us. The Psalm
points to the healing power of Jesus, our Lord and Savior,
which is depicted in this week’s Gospel. (Mark 1:29-39)
We too can be rebuilt from the inside out by the promise
of our Lord's salvation. It is surely by the grace of God
that we are made well. It is God's grace that drives the
demons out of us; there is no room in our hearts for both
the Holy Spirit and the demons. And we obtain God's grace
from the sacraments, which empower us to be well physically,
emotionally, and spiritually.
There is even hope for someone beaten down like Job,
whom we hear about in today's 1st reading. (Job 7:1-4, 6-7)
Like Job we may be poor in spirit, but it is at our moment
of greatest weakness that the Lord will call us by name –
“He numbers all the stars, calls each of them by name.”
Having put our trust in the Lord, He will sustain us,
“The Lord sustains the lowly.” Once we realize that the Lord
takes care of the lowly (for we are His sheep), we can not help
but praise God, preach the Gospel, and boast in our faith as
does St Paul. (1 Corinthians 9:16-18, 23)
Our Psalmist says it well – “How good to sing praise to God;
how pleasant to give fitting praise.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our Psalm response this Sunday is, 'Praise the Lord, who heals
the brokenhearted.' Explain how the verses of the Psalm give you hope
that the Lord will 'bind up your
wounds.'
2. Our psalmist says that the Lord 'calls each of the stars by
name.'
Does this verse give you comfort that our Creator also knows
your name
and seeks you out despite the infinite size of the universe?
What does this
verse mean to you?
Reflections
Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-7, 7-9 (Read)
“If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
Today's Psalm is about obeying and worshiping God.
We are urged to bow down in worship before our God,
whose sheep we are (remember we are His
well-tended flock). We are instructed to be alert
for His voice and to be receptive to His teachings
(we need to be good
listeners).
We are not to harden our hearts or test the Lord
(as the Israelites did at Meribah). We are to humble
ourselves and open our hearts to the Lord
(having done so we are set free).
Then we are no longer constrained by the
things of this world, and we can be open to His
love and His teachings.
Moses prophesied that the Lord would speak to us
through one of our own kind (Deuteronomy 18:18).
So we had better listen to God’s son, Jesus, who
became one of us so that we could be more like Him.
His works should be sufficient to convince us of His
saving power and grace.
St Paul tells us we need to be free from anxiety and
distractions (1 Corinthians 7:32). This is not an easy
thing to do when we are caught up in the things of
the world. We would all benefit from an authoritative
cleansing of our hearts, and a removal of unclean
forces that distract us from hearing the voice of
the Lord. Then we can make room for Jesus
to fill our hearts and remain in us.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist encourages us not to harden our hearts if we
hear
God's voice. Do you find it difficult sometimes to carry out
God's will
in your life even if you believe He is speaking to you? Give
an example.
2. The psalm reminds us that we are like sheep and the Lord is
our shepherd.
Are you willing to be just an ordinary sheep among His flock?
If so, what
does it mean to you to be shepherded by the Lord?
Reflections
Psalm 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (Read)
“Good and upright is the Lord, who shows sinners the way.”
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 share in His divinity. Who else would have such
regard for sinners, for believers who disobey Him?
Our psalmist David humbly offers up his sins to God
his savior, and waits for God’s guidance. “The Lord guides
the humble rightly, and teaches the humble His way.”
In today's Gospel the early disciples leave their nets
and their families behind when Jesus calls out
to them. (Mark 1:16-20) Jesus had a plan for His
disciples, when He singled them out to serve Him.
God had a plan for Jonah as well (1st reading);
his mission was to warn the people of Nineveh
to repent and turn to the Lord. (Jonah 3: 1-5)
St Paul, in our 2nd reading, has a similar message for
all of us, that time is running out and any day now
would be an acceptable day for us to focus on our own
salvation. (1 Corinthians 7: 29-31) The Lord is there
to guide us, as He was in the days of David, our psalmist.
Whether it's through a Jonah in our midst or a Saint Paul,
the message of the Lord is clear – “Repent and believe
in the Gospel.” We may not be able to do this on our own,
but as our psalmist says, “The Lord shows sinners the way.”
The Lord is talking to all of us here; we are all sinners.
We are all able to benefit from the healing power of Jesus.
And where does the power come from to turn away from sin?
It comes from the Lord, It is He who encourages us when
our tongues confess, “Remember no more the sins of my youth;
remember me only in light of your love.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist petitions the Lord, 'Teach me your ways.'
How do you go about learning the ways of the Lord? Tell how
the verses of the Psalm help you understand the ways of
the Lord.
2. Our Psalm says the Lord 'shows sinners the way.' Give an example
of how you have been guided by the Lord to turn away from sin and repent.
Reflections
Psalm 40: 2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 (Read)
“Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”
The Psalm is a prayer of gratitude and of
obedience to the Lord. Our psalmist David
answers God’s call when he says, “Here I am.”
Young Samuel does the same in our first reading.
Samuel waits expectantly for the Lord to speak
to him; he is ‘all ears’ when he hears the Lord’s
voice. He grows up serving the Lord
and following God. (1 Samuel 3: 3-10,19)
Our psalmist says, “He put a new song into
my mouth.” For us too it is no longer the same
old tune or the same old we. We are in fact
a new creation, singing out the good news.
Where does our joyful spirit come from?
It comes from the Lord, and we are called
to share what He has given us and to do
His will, which is our delight.
In the Gospel reading (John 1:35-42),
Andrew recognizes Jesus as the anointed one
and is drawn to Him. Andrew and his brother
Simon truly become members of Christ's body.
They are joined to the Lord and have become
one spirit with Him, as St. Paul proclaims in
our 2nd reading. (1 Corinthians 6:15,17)
We too are called to follow Christ and to do
His will. Obedience isn’t an unpleasant chore
for us. Instead, as the Psalm tells us,
“To do your will is my delight.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. In this beautiful Psalm our psalmist speaks of waiting,
waiting for the Lord. Tell what it means to you to have waited
for the Lord, and what has been the result of your presenting
yourself to the Lord?
2. Our psalmist is delighted to do God's will; he says to God,
"Your law is within my heart!" Have you also felt the Lord's pleasure
when you obey Him and serve Him? What does it mean to you
to say God's law is within my heart?
