Psalm for Sunday, November 15, 2026

Reflections

Psalm 128: 1-2, 3, 4-5   (Read)

“Just so will they be blessed 

who fear the Lord.”

The Psalm affirms that 
blessings for we 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.  
She uses wisely what is 

given her as her way of 

obeying the Lord 

and holding Him in awe.  

And if a man walks with the Lord, 
this will be reflected in the way 
he loves his wife.  Because if a man 
cherishes his wife, as ‘flesh of his flesh’ 
and ‘bone of his bones,’ he nourishes 
his relationship with her, as Christ 
nourishes the Church.  And the man’s 
reward is that his wife will be like 
a ‘fruitful vine’ within his house.  
This is how a man is blessed who 
fears the Lord.

As the Psalm says, 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 8, 2026

 

Reflections

Psalm 63: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8   (Read)

“My soul is thirsting for you, 

O Lord my God.”

This prayer of longing was written 

at a time when David was in the 

desert, a place where physical thirst 

was all around him, and the earth 

was parched, lifeless and without 

water.  But David is writing also 

about a spiritual thirst that 

overwhelms him and reminds him 

of the emptiness of life without God. 

David meditates on those happier moments 

when he was close to the Lord, 

when his soul was satisfied as with the riches 

of a banquet, and when he took shelter 

in the shadow of the wings of God.

We too go through times of spiritual deprivation
when we are away from God and indulge in 
sinful practices that separate us from Him.  
At those times, like a penitent sinner, we experience 
our deepest longing for the love of the Lord, and 
we seek out His loving embrace.  As our psalmist 
says, at times like that our soul clings fast to the Lord.   
We bless Him, we glorify Him, we praise Him.

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist seeks the Lord because his soul thirsts for Him.   
Give an example of a time when you have thirsted for God's 
presence and blessing in your life.

2.  The Psalm speaks of gazing toward the Lord in the sanctuary.
Tell of a time when you have gazed at the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of your parish and how you could see His power and His glory.

Psalm for Sunday, November 1, 2026

 

Reflections

Psalm 24: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6    (Read)

“Who may go up the mountain of the Lord?                                                                 Who can stand in HIs holy place?"

 


This Sunday's Psalm is about a journey to 
a holy place.   It is a place where we will meet 
the Lord.   But we are asked, “Who can ascend 
the mountain of the Lord?  Who may stand in 
His holy place?” 

Our psalmist answers, “The clean of hand and  
pure of heart, who has not given his soul 
to what is vain, such is the people that seeks 
the face of God.”

We are all unworthy to be in the Lord's 
presence, but at least we can cleanse 
ourselves through confession, and bathe 
in the Word.  That is how we show our love 
for the Lord.

Though we may not have to climb a mountain 
to meet the Lord, we must prepare to receive 
Him in our hearts.  The Psalm is guiding us to
prepare ourselves from within, so that we are
made ready to receive Him when He comes.

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  The Psalm asks, "Who can go up to the mountain of the Lord?   
How do you prepare yourself to ascend the mountain of the Lord and 
stand in His holy place?

2.  The Response this Sunday is, "Lord, this is the people that longs 
to see your face."   Describe the longing in your heart for our Lord. 

Psalm for Sunday, October 25, 2026

 

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 

our psalmist 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, 

the horn of my salvation, 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 descendants,

“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 18, 2026

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 this Sunday's first 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.
 

Psalm for Sunday, October 11, 2026

 

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 4, 2026

 

Reflections

Psalm 80: 9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20    (Read)

"O Lord, take care of this vine."  

The Psalm is a prayer to restore the Israelites to God’s vineyard.   
The chosen people have lost God’s protection; God has removed 
the hedge that He put up around them.

“God brought a vine out of Egypt and planted it.”  But what kind 
of fruit did God’s vineyard bear?  The prophet Isaiah says in 
our 1st reading that despite all of God’s efforts, nothing but wild
grapes was produced. (Isaiah 5:2)    And so God broke down the
vineyard’s walls, letting, “The boar strip the vine, and the beast 
feed upon it.” 

There is a message here for all of us who do not bear fruit or 
use our resources wisely.  We could lose God’s protection, 
and we may not be able to defend ourselves from the evil one 
that prowls around like a roaring lion. 

We, like the psalmist, need to beg for God’s mercy.
“Turn again, O Lord of hosts, attend to this vine.”
If we’re not careful, the kingdom will be taken away 
from us, as it was in the Gospel, and given to a people
that will produce its fruit.  (Matthew 21: 43)  
We, like the Israelites, need to be restored.  The Psalm's
verses pray, “Give us new life,  and we will call on your name.”

Where does our hope for revival come from?
It comes from our Savior, sent by the Lord, our cornerstone,
“The son of man whom God himself made strong.”
In Him we are restored. As the Psalm says, “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, take care of this vine; then we will no more withdraw 
from you.  Give us new life, and we will call upon your name.”  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 are you inspired by the Psalm's verses to repent and seek renewal?