Reflections
Psalm 34: 2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21
“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”
Once again we revisit this psalm
of thanksgiving. And for the third
consecutive Sunday the Gospel
challenges us to stop murmuring
and stand up for our faith.
And the question is the same,
“Do I truly believe that Jesus
is the living bread that came down
out of heaven and that whoever eats
His flesh and drinks His blood will
remain in Him and will live forever?”
Like Joshua, am I prepared to take
a stand and declare, “As for me
and my household we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua commits himself and his family
to serve the Lord. What better commitment
would there be for me, in our time?
Where would I go if I did not serve
the Lord? To whom would I turn
without my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?
I thirst for Jesus and would be parched
and dry without Him in my life.
I must stop murmuring about
how difficult it may be to accept His words
and declare that Jesus is truly the Holy One of God.
Who else would hear my cry,
as our psalmist says, or confront
evildoers on my behalf ?
“Many are the troubles of the just,
but the Lord delivers them all.”
We are all afflicted; our Spirit
may be crushed (as the psalmist says),
but “God watches over all our bones.”
“When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.”
Who else would listen to my cry?
If I cry out to the Lord, He will hear me
and rescue me from all distress.
Where else would I turn?
I have the Lord as my ally
in my fight against the evil one.
And with Him on my side victory is certain.
“The Lord confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.”
So the teaching is clear –
“Let His praise be ever in my mouth,
and let my soul glory in the Lord.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. If we truly serve the Lord, we can be confident
that 'He will watch over all our bones', as the Psalmist says.
Explain how your faith has given you peace and strength
in the face of your afflictions.
2. We are engaged in a spiritual battle with the evil one
and his helpers, but our Psalmist says that the Lord
will confront evildoers and destroy them. Tell of how
you have been able to defeat evil with the Lord on your side.
"Many are the troubles of the just...." We all have "troubles"...that's real life #101.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of very real evil in the world...just read the newspapers; watch the news on TV. Sometimes spouses and close friends can help, and sometimes they can't.
I think of God the Father as being very stern and just, so it's much easier to think of Jesus as the helpful, kindly, knowledgeable, perfect older brother who is just waiting for us to ask for His help...it's nice to know, "that's His job, and He's very good at it."