Psalm for Sunday, June 3, 2018

Reflections

Psalm  116: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18   (Read)

“I will take the cup of salvation 

and call on the name of the Lord.”

This saving cup

is the same cup that 

we  share each time 

we participate 

in the Liturgy of 

the Eucharist.

It is the cup of 

the blood that 

Jesus shed 

to mark the 

new covenant 

with people of faith.

We  are saved by Christ; 

He is the divine victim.

Our psalmist asks,

“How can I repay the Lord 

for all the good He has done 

for me?”

The Psalm affirms, “Precious 

in the eyes of the Lord 

is the death of his faithful ones.”

What could be more costly 

than the death of God’s only son?

Yet God consented to the death 

of his Son because of his love 

for us;

God did not spare Him.

Once again we ask,

“How can I repay the Lord 

for all the good He has done 

for me?”

Certainly we are all obliged 

to pay our vows to the Lord,

to give Him praise, 

to obey his commandments,

and to do his will.  As the Psalm says,

“My vows to the Lord I will pay 

in the presence of all his people.” 

We are to praise Him and worship Him 

in the presence of the community.   

It is not just between us and God.    

We are part of a community, and

we are to acknowledge Him 

and bow down to Him publicly.   

And we are to proclaim the Gospel!

Our psalmist says, “O Lord, I am 

your servant, you have loosed 

my bonds.”

We are made free 

by becoming the Lord's servant.

That is how it is when 

we follow his commandments

and do his will.

It is not something that binds us.

Rather, it is something 

that sets us free.

We take delight 

in serving the Lord.

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmists asks, "How can I repay the Lord for all the good He has done for me?"  Explain how you would answer this question.

2.  When you "take the cup of salvation," do you receive our Lord's saving power? Say how you respond when you eat His body and drink His blood.

Psalm for Sunday, May 27, 2018

Reflections

Psalm 33:  4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22   (Read)

“The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him."

We have been chosen by God to be his people.  
God is all powerful, “By the word of the Lord the
heavens were made.  For He spoke, and it came 
to be.”

This Sunday's 1st reading reminds us we are 
to keep his commandments. (Deuteronomy 4:40)
And we do this because we hold Him in awe.

Like a Good Shepherd He protects us from harm.
He puts up a hedge around us and provides us 
with armor in our battle against death and the evil one.
He feeds us when we go through periods of spiritual 
hunger.  He nourishes us and gives us our daily bread.

“Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and 
our shield.”  It is said that even people who have 
no faith have a longing in their hearts for God.
There is something missing in their lives.
For us who are believers, we are dependent on 
the Lord.  We openly seek his help and his 
protection.  He is our shield in the spiritual battle 
that we all have to fight.

We would be dead in our sins without the Lord's 
protection, defeated by the evil one without the 
Lord's armor.  And when our hearts are starved 
for God's presence, when our bones are dry,
He nourishes us and breathes life into our dry 
bones.  “Lord we have put our hope in you.”

“Our soul waits for the Lord.”  We are delivered 
from death, kept alive in times of spiritual famine.
We can expect to receive his grace.  And for this, 
we praise the Lord.  As the psalmist says,
we know He will fill the earth with kindness
and that his kindness will be upon us.

“We have put our hope in the Lord.”  
Jesus, in turn, puts his hope in us,
commanding us to go out and make disciples 
of all nations. (Matthew 28:19)
As God's children we must be obedient
and carry out his commission.

We have been given to Jesus so that we may 
proclaim the good news of salvation.
In this way we carry out the Lord’s works
and celebrate what the Psalm says,
“The Lord loves justice and right.”

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our Psalm Response this week is, 'Blessed the people the Lord 
has chosen to be his own.'  Do you believe that you have been chosen 
by God to be one of His children?   Explain.

2.  Our psalmist speaks of preserving us in spite of 'famine.'  Have you 
gone through periods of spiritual hunger?   How has your faith enabled you 
to regain your strength and obtain nourishment?

Psalm for Pentecost Sunday, May 20, 2018

Reflections

Psalm 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34  (Read)

“Lord, send out your Spirit.”

“If you take away their breath, 

they perish; when you send forth 

your spirit, they are created.” 

Animated by the Spirit, the divine 
Breath, we who are His creatures 
sing of the glory of our Creator.

“When you send forth your Spirit,

you renew the face of the earth.”

God is the source of all natural life.

So also the Holy Spirit is the source 

of all supernatural life.  We are nothing 
without the divine Breath -- 

“When you take away their breath,

they perish and return to their dust.”

It is this same creative Breath 

which came down on the disciples 

in that locked room that St Luke speaks of in 

this Sunday's first reading.  (Acts 2:1-4)

The Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to 
go forth and proclaim the Gospel boldly 

to men of all nations, speaking different tongues.

We too are called to be baptized in the Spirit, 

and to receive the divine Breath of the Lord. 

Having been baptized in the Spirit, we are a 
new creation, and are called to glorify the Lord 
in what we do.  In this way, as the Psalm says, 

“May the Lord be glad in his works.”

Fortunately, for us too, the Spirit is manifested

in each of us for some benefit, as St Paul 
reminds us in Sunday's second reading.

(1 Corinthians 12:7)

All we have to do is accept Christ and believe
in Him.  Then we too will have the gift of life. 

Without the breath of God, we are nothing.  

Just as the Holy Spirit empowered 

the disciples at Pentecost,

so too are we empowered by our Creator.  

The presence of the Holy Spirit within us 

is how we share in the divinity of Christ.  

Without the breath of the Holy Spirit, 

we have no spiritual life.

But thanks to God's gift, 

we are a new creation,

and we are baptized into Christ.  

And that alone gives us reason to praise God.

As our psalmist says, 

“Pleasing to him be my theme;

I will be glad in the Lord.”

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.   Our Psalm reminds us that we are dependent on the Lord for our very breath.   
Tell about what makes you aware of the 'divine Breath' in your life.

2.  Our Sunday Psalm Response is, 'Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face 
of the earth.'   Is the Holy Spirit doing a work in you?   Are you a 'new creation?'
Speak about your baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Psalm for Sunday, May 13, 2018

Reflections

Psalm 47: 2-3, 6-7, 8-9   (Read)

"God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy."


This Sunday we celebrate the 
Ascension of our Lord, who was 
taken up to heaven to be seated 
at the right hand of the Father, 
far above every principality, with 
authority over every nation.  
(Ephesians 1:21)

With such an awesome God on 
his throne, what hope do we have 
as mere human beings that we will 
ever be able to approach Him?
How far above us can this Jesus be,
if He is taken up to heaven and has 
all things put beneath his feet?

The words of a popular song say, 
“Our God is an awesome God, He reigns 
with power and love.”
Power is often associated with arrogance
and brutal treatment, but our God uses his 
power to work miracles, and bring about 
healing.  And his power is expressed by 
his love, by which we are raised up with 
Jesus.

Fortunately for us humans, Jesus has a plan 
for us – we can feel his power and presence 
within us, so long as we repent from our sins 
and believe in Him.  He is risen, and is seated 
at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
Knowing this, we shout with joy, and we praise 
Him.   He leaves with us a way to share 
in his divinity, through the Holy Spirit which He 
sends to us.  That same promise Jesus made 
to his disciples is available to us – the promise 
of the Father, the gift of the holy Spirit.  (Acts 1:8)

After Jesus' Ascension, the disciples begin
their active ministry empowered by the Holy Spirit.
That same power is given to us so long as we believe;
we too are called to ministry.  And for that we are 
inspired to praise the Lord.  As the psalmist says, 
“Clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness, 
sing praise to God!”

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Over and over our psalmist calls for us to shout to God and sing praise to God, 
as God mounts his throne.  Tell of how you personally praise the Lord with 'cries of gladness.'

2.   The verses of our psalm for this Ascension Sunday place our Lord in his kingship and on his throne, and make it seem that God is so far above us that we may not be able to approach Him easily.  How do you handle this apparent dilemma?  How do you approach our  Lord?