Psalm for Sunday, August 3, 2014

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.