Psalm for Sunday, August 16, 2026

Reflections

Psalm 45: 10, 11, 12, 16  (Read)

"The queen stands at your right hand."

The Psalm is about the birth of our Savior.   Just as the woman in Sunday’s first reading is clothed with the sun, and arrayed with a crown of twelve stars, so Mary our Holy Queen is arrayed in gold and stands at the right hand of God.  

The verses of the Psalm describe how Mary is being prepared for the royal birth of the Messiah himself.   She will have a name that is renowned through all generations and nations shall praise her forever.    She is led in to the heavenly chamber with glad and joyous acclaim.  All glory is given to her as she enters.   She is told to forget her people and her father’s house that God himself might rejoice in her beauty.  

As in Sunday’s first reading Mary gives birth to a son destined to rule all the nations, a child who is caught up to God and his throne. (Revelations 12:5)   

Having taken his place seated at the right hand of God, now have salvation come, and authority is given to the Anointed One.   St Paul confirms our salvation and tells us in Sunday’s second reading that in Christ all shall be saved and brought to life. (1 Corinthians 15:22)

And in Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 1: 39-56), when Mary makes an ordinary visit 

to her cousin Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit inspires Elizabeth to proclaim that Mary 

is to be the mother of her Lord, and her own child leaps for joy at the coming 

of the Messiah.   Having been blessed by Elizabeth, Mary cries out her Magnificat and affirms that the Almighty has done great things for her.   She cannot keep from proclaiming the greatness of the Lord and she rejoices in God her Savior.   

Truly we are present at a Holy moment.

Amen

Discussion Questions for Discussion

1.  Do you see Mary as our Holy Queen, arrayed in gold?

How do you explain that an apparently ordinary young woman became 

the Mother of our Lord?

2.  Can you picture yourself as one of the train of bridesmaids 

who are being led into the palace of the king?  Explain.

Psalm for Sunday, August 9, 2026

 

Reflections 

Psalm 85: 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14   (Read)

“I will hear what God proclaims;

glory dwelling in our land.”

Our psalmist knows the importance 

of listening carefully for the voice 

of the Lord.  For as Elijah discovers 

in Sunday’s 1^st reading, God is not 

in the wind, nor the earthquake, 

nor the fire. Rather, God appears 

to Elijah as a tiny whispering sound.  

(1 Kings 19)

We too must listen attentively for 

the voice of the Lord and be careful 

not to miss His presence among us. 

How do we seek Him out?

Where do we find the Lord?

We find Him when we read and study

his Word, his living Word,

as fresh now as it was thousands

of years ago. For His Word is 

as penetrating as a two edged sword, 

able to separate bone from marrow.

His Word convicts us, 

pointing the way to salvation.

As our psalmist says, 

“Near indeed is His salvation 

for those who fear Him.”

Our psalmist prepares the way of the Lord --

“Truth shall spring out of the earth,”

(when the Messiah is born).

The goodness and blessings 

that the psalmist speaks about 

are fulfilled in Christ. 

For our Savior is truly, 

“Glory dwelling in our land.”

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist affirms that he will hear what God proclaims.  Tell of how you listen for the voice of the Lord and what He is saying to you.

2.  The Psalm proclaims that truth shall spring out of the earth and there will be 'glory dwelling in our land.'   Speak of how our Lord appears before you and how He is present to you.

Psalm for Sunday, August 2, 2026

 

Reflections                                                        

       
Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-16, 17-18   (Read)

“The hand of the Lord feeds us; He answers all our needs.”

We are like sheep, dependent on our 
Good Shepherd to give us nourishment.   
As the prophet Isaiah says, if we heed the Lord, we shall eat well, and we shall delight in rich fare. (1st reading, Isaiah 55:1-3)

Just as Jesus fed five thousand men from a few 
loaves and two fish, so Jesus feeds a multitude 
of us even today.  We too are among the hopeful 
ones who look to the Lord for our food in due season. 
“The eyes of all look hopefully to you; you give them 
their food in due season.”

The Lord satisfies the desire of every living thing,
as our psalmist says.  He opens wide His hand for us.
His presence is shown in the help, nourishment, 
and salvation that He shows to us.  We are dependent 
on our Lord to feed us.  He nourishes us physically, 
spiritually, and emotionally.

We are His faithful ones, and we praise God and give 
Him thanks because of His divine attributes of 
compassion and love.  Our psalmist dwells on the 
everlasting nature of God, on His love and presence 
throughout all time, and we are called to praise the 
Lord forever and ever.
  
Our psalmist reminds us, “The Lord is good to all and
compassionate toward all His works.” We know this 
inherently because we live our lives along an unending 
stream of divine love.

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist says the Lord gives us our food in due season.
Tell of how you have been fed by the Lord and nourished by Him.

2.  The Psalm's verses affirm that the Lord is full of compassion
and love for every living thing.  Speak of how God's love has
changed your life and made you a better person.

Psalm for Sunday, July 26, 2026

Reflections 

Psalm 119: 57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130   (Read)

"Lord, I love your commands."

Our psalmist is in prayer, 

expressing his love for the Lord's 

commands, and promising to keep 

His words.

We may not have the wisdom 

of Solomon, but we have enough 

discernment to recognize how 

powerful the Lord's decrees can be 

in our spiritual lives. Just as the law 

of the Lord is precious to our psalmist, 

so too is the law of the Lord central 

to our lives and to our faith.

Our psalmist says that the Lord's decrees are

wonderful, and therefore he observes them.
We may not always think of the law as wonderful

(some people may consider it restrictive), 

but if we learn to do His will, 

we find that we are liberated,
set free from the sin that drags us down.  

We choose life instead of death.

Doing God's will (keeping his commandments) 

isn't easy, but having received His grace,  

and having been granted discernment 

to know right from wrong, good from evil, 

we can follow Him with conviction.  

Our 'yes' will mean 'yes' to the Lord,

and our 'no' will mean 

'no' to the devil and his minions.

Having decided to do His will, 

we take delight in keeping His statutes; 

they are like honey to us.
And the blessings we receive 

are part of what God has prepared 

for those who love Him. 

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection 

1.  Our psalmist says he observes the Lord's commandments because 

they are wonderful and they shed light.   Explain why you are committed 

to follow the Lord's decrees.

 2.  The Psalm assures us that we go forward if we follow God's precepts, 

and in so doing we avoid every false way.  Speak of  how God's 

commandments protect you on your journey of faith and draw you 

closer to God.

Psalm for Sunday, July 19, 2026

Reflections 

Psalm 86: 5-6, 9-10, 15-16   (Read)

“Turn toward me, and have pity on me, 

give your strength to your servant.”

We pray, as does our psalmist David,

for the Lord to attend to the 'sound of

our pleading.' We take refuge in the same 

heavenly Father that Christ did. Even 

when we are far away, the Lord has pity 

on us. Even though we forget Him, He 

does not forget us. He searches our hearts; 

He gathers us into His mansion 

at the end of the age. 

He empowers us to fight a good fight. 

God saves us from our enemies, and also 

from ourselves. All we have to do is 

open our hearts to Him and do His will 

by striving to be saved. For God gives 

His children good ground for hope, and 

He permits repentance for their sins.

(Wisdom 12:19)

Our Psalmist never stops asking, 

and He is rightly sure, 

that God could never stop giving. 

God could scarcely resist our prayers.

Even though we do not know how to pray 

as we ought, as St Paul says, the Holy Spirit

Himself intercedes with inexpressible 

groanings.  (Romans 8:26)

The Lord is present to us;

He listens; He pardons; He saves. 

God's goodness overwhelms us. 

Even nonbelievers will come to worship 

God and glorify His name.

Amen

   
Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist is overwhelmed with the goodness of our merciful Lord.   

Give an example of how God has attended to the sound of your pleading 

and done a wondrous deed in your life.

2.  The Psalm is a prayer that God will strengthen and empower His servant.  

Speak of how the Lord has empowered you to do His will.

Psalm for Sunday, July 12, 2026

Reflections 

Psalm 65: 10, 11, 12-13, 14   (Read)

“The Lord has visited the land 

and watered it; greatly has He 

enriched it.” 

  

Water is so critical for a 

place like the Holy Land, 

as it is here in the arid 

climate of Southern 

California.  Without water 

we could not produce any fruit.   We are blessed that “God's watercourses are filled” and He provides us with an abundant harvest.

We also depend upon the Lord to supply us with what 

Jesus called the living water

that satisfies our spiritual thirst. 

Jesus is the Word that drenches us, 

adorns our year with plenty.  

How else could we bear fruit?  

With his showers He softens the land, 

blessing its young sprouts (that is us). 

We are like untilled meadows without 

his word and his grace.  How else 

could we expect our pastures 

to be blanketed with grain? 

The Lord prepares the earth;

He adorns our paths with fruitful rain. 

The hills are robed in joy.

God’s Word is showered down upon us, 

and does not return to God void; 

we do his will;

we are his witnesses; 

we keep the faith. 

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist speaks about the Lord having visited the land and watered it.   

Tell of how the Lord has drenched you with His living water that yields a fruitful 

harvest.

2.  The Psalm assures us that the Lord breaks up the clods of the land and 

softens it with showers.  Give an example of how God's Word has softened 

you up spiritually and led you to do His will.

Psalm for Sunday, July 5, 2026

 

Reflections                                      
 

Psalm 145: 1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14   (Read)  
 
“The Lord lifts up all who are falling 
and raises up all who are bowed down.” 

We may question why God allows us to suffer, 
why he allows bad things to happen to good people. We may ask, as the early believers probably did, “Why is it necessary to undergo such hardships to enter the kingdom of God?”

Scripture tells us that afflictions are to be expected in our walk with the Lord.  We may not understand what God is up to, but we can be sure that our faith will be strengthened if we stand fast in the face of suffering.  We will become better witnesses for Christ if we are humbled; we become better servants if we bear up with our difficulties and trust in the Lord, as our psalmist tells us. 

And as the Gospel says, we are raised up by getting
' yoked to Jesus.'   That is how our burdens are made light, 
by helping Jesus to carry His cross, as Simon did that day 
on the road to Calvary.  Despite what we may think, 
"His yoke is easy and His burden light."

Remember that endurance is a Godly quality and will 
help us to get yoked to Jesus.   Having done that, we, 
like our psalmist David, join with the faithful and 
speak of the glory of God's reign and bless his name.

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist assures us that the Lord will lift us up
when we are falling.   Speak of a time when you have 
undergone hardship and how your faith has been strengthened.

2.  The Psalm says that the Lord is "good to all and 
compassionate toward all his works."  Tell how this verse 
inspires you to be more compassionate toward those in 
your life who may not always be lovable in your sight.