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 with 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.
1. Before I answer, I think it’s important to establish that the Lord doesn’t have to “feed” you whenever you want to be fed. He sometimes requires a certain kind of patience... otherwise, He would act more like a genie who grants wishes rather than an all-loving God. He can also feed us over time, sprinkling in blessing in our life over the course of a week, month, year, or longer. This being said, I feel as if I have waited my turn to be fed (but it’s not up to me), as I wasn’t happy with my freshman season of ball to be ended before it began due to injury. Now however, after being humbled again, I feel healthier and more fit than ever, and am prepared and grateful to be fed by Him, in my eyes hopefully through the form of a very successful upcoming season with a lot of points scored. I have learned to depend on Him instead of myself, and I pray that His nourishment is coming with respect to my basketball career.
ReplyDelete2. Often times, whether at work, school, or sports, I find it easy to get annoyed, angry, sad, or all the above. This can be a very rude parent I deal with while coaching elementary kids, a seemingly impossible load of homework, or the obvious frustrations that can come with sports. However, I remember that Jesus gave His life in an extremely painful way for every single person. This act of love proves He is God as he rose from the dead and conquered death. If Jesus can do that for us, then the least I can do is understand that we are all human and God’s Creation, and it’s not my place to judge someone. I need to continue to work on displaying God’s Love, no matter how I’m feeling in that situation or what circumstance is given.