Psalm for Sunday, September 13, 2026

 

Reflections

Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12   (Read)

"Not according to our sins 
does He deal with us."

Our psalmist sings the praises
of a divine and loving God, 

who surrounds us with 
compassion, pardons our sins, heals our ills.

He nurses no lasting anger, 

He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve.  Our duty is to remain faithful to the Lord, as we are His children, and to treat His anointed ones 

with love and compassion, 
as He would do.

We are to be merciful to our enemies 
by imitating the Father.  The Psalm 
tells us how:  

“Merciful and gracious is the Lord,

Slow to anger and abounding in kindness.”

Who can love their enemies, and do good 
to them?  It will be difficult if we allow our 
earthly nature to rule us.  Just as “God 
has not dealt with us as our sins merit,”

so must we have compassion on those

we may be inclined to condemn.

We cannot imitate God without a share 
in Christ’s divinity, by allowing the Holy 
Spirit within us to guide us.  Only then 
will we have the kind of compassion 

the psalmist speaks about.

As the Psalm says, God’s love towers over us

if we are his faithful.

If we love the Lord, it will show in our hearts,

and the old things will then pass away.

The Psalm says it well:

As far as the east is from the west, 

so far has He put our transgressions behind us.

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our Psalm speaks of a loving and compassionate God,
who does not deal with us according to our sins.   Are you able
to treat those who have harmed you in the same way?  Explain.

2.  The verses of the Psalm remind us of the power of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, "As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He put our transgressions behind us."  Relate how the
Sacrament works for you to put your sins behind you.

Psalm for Sunday, September 6, 2026

 

Reflections

Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9    (Read)

"Oh that today you would hear His voice."

    

Knowing God's will is hard enough;
discernment is a gift from God.
But even if we are gifted enough to
be able to discern God 's will,
can we have the courage and conviction
to actually do His will?   Today more than
ever we need to hear His voice.  As God the
Father said, “This is my beloved Son
with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”

In the Gospel, Jesus instructs the disciples
how to do all they have been commanded.  
As followers of Jesus, we too are to do all 
that we are obliged to do.

Doing the will of God must have been
difficult even for the disciples, hand picked
by our Lord himself.  How much more so is
the will of God a challenge for ordinary
persons like us?  Even the disciples must
have been in awe of what Jesus was
commanding them to do.

“Harden not your hearts.”
Our spiritual history is full of occasions
where the faithful were known to have
hardened their hearts and refused to listen
to God's voice, though they had seen
His works, as our psalmist mentions.
But after all, He is our God, as the psalm says,
and we are the people he shepherds.

Our job is to kneel before the Lord who
made us and to carry out His will the best
we can.   And if we are careful to listen
to His voice, He will empower us to do
His will, just as Jesus empowered the
disciples to rise up to the challenge of
the Great Commission and to become 
ordinary men performing extraordinary 
deeds.

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection
 
1.  Our psalmist encourages us not to harden our hearts
when 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?
  

Psalm for Sunday, August 30, 2026

 

Reflections

Psalm 63: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9    (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, August 23, 2026

 

Reflections  

Psalm 138: 1-2, 2-3, 6, 8   (Read)

“Lord, do not forsake the work of your hands.”

Our psalmist David composed this prayer 

of a grateful heart. “I will give thanks to you, 

O Lord, with all my heart.”

David is grateful because his petitions 

are answered by the Lord. “For you 

have heard the words of my mouth.”  

The Lord's answers to our psalmist's 

prayers have come at a critical time, 

a time when David is seeking to build 

up his strength.

David speaks of a divine rescue -- “When I 
cried out, you answered; you strengthened 
my spirit.”  Perhaps we’re all in need of a 
spiritual rescue of the type David describes.

And it isn’t because of any of the psalmist’s virtues 
that he obtains salvation. It is a result of God’s loving
fidelity. “Lord, your love is eternal.” Our God does not 
forsake the work of His hands, though as St Paul says
in Sunday's 2nd reading, “Who has given the Lord 
anything that he may be repaid?” (Rom 11:35) 

Unworthy as we are, and though the Lord is exalted,
He watches over us in our lowly state.  And thanks
be to God, His kindness endures forever.

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist speaks of a divine rescue when he was in great need of the 
Lord's Providence.  Give an example of when you have cried out to the Lord 
and He has answered your cry.

2.  The Psalm's verses deal with an age old mystery--the Lord is exalted, 
yet the lowly He sees.   How do you reconcile the apparent contradiction between God's heavenly dwelling and His concern for us lowly humans?

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.