Reflections
Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 8, 10,12-13 (Read)
“The Lord redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.”
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, and to treat
His anointed ones with love and compassion,
as He would do.
This Sunday's Gospel teaches a powerful and
difficult lesson – We are to be merciful to our
enemies by imitating the Father. The Psalm
tells us how, by being “Merciful and gracious,
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 imitate God and
have compassion on those we would typically
want to condemn.
We cannot imitate God without a share in Christ’s
divinity, and in turn being empowered by the holy
Spirit within us. Only then will we have the kind
of compassion the psalmist speaks about, “As a
father has compassion on his children, so the Lord
has compassion on the 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.
“The Lord redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.”
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, and to treat
His anointed ones with love and compassion,
as He would do.
This Sunday's Gospel teaches a powerful and
difficult lesson – We are to be merciful to our
enemies by imitating the Father. The Psalm
tells us how, by being “Merciful and gracious,
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 imitate God and
have compassion on those we would typically
want to condemn.
We cannot imitate God without a share in Christ’s
divinity, and in turn being empowered by the holy
Spirit within us. Only then will we have the kind
of compassion the psalmist speaks about, “As a
father has compassion on his children, so the Lord
has compassion on the 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.
ReplyDelete1. In his mercy towards his creation our loving and compassionate God forgives our sins, heals our diseases, and delivers us from pain and suffering. Moreover He redeems us from death, from the pit, with his abundant mercy.
Because of God's graciousness and merciful character our sins are forgiven.
God is love — your sins will be forgiven so long as you forgive those who harm you.
He loves both me and those who hurt me. It is hard to deal with this subject of forgiveness. There were many times I thought I forgave those who harmed me after going to Confession.
But I had not forgotten the deeply rooted hurt feelings. I did not hold a grudge against them any more, but I became defensive from being hurt.
I know the devil was trying to upset me.
Knowing my sins can not be forgiven, if I do not forgive those who
harmed me in the past, it can be challenge for me. But I hear his commandant saying to forgive. My spirit is willing but my carnal body is weak.
2. As far as the east is from the west, He puts our sins behind us.
That is his promise to us. East and West can never meet.
And so it means God will never remember our iniquities if we confess our sins and wrongdoings.
So we must model God's example how to forgive and forget.
God will wipe our record clean and forget. As He does to us we must forgive and forget the sins of those who hurt us. Otherwise we are not truly forgiven.
The sting of being dismissed, insulted, overlooked, or blatantly betrayed is familiar to me. I have been the victim of such behavior from a wide range of people, from family members to fellow moms I barely know.
ReplyDeleteIt especially hurts when I am wronged by someone close to me, whom I respected and trusted. But it hurts the MOST when I am watching one of my children endure the wrongdoing. As a parent, it's as if the hurt is multiplied.
Do I stay in the tearful state of disbelief? Self-pity? Anger? Sadness? Do I fan the fire of those feelings in the sweet hearts of my kids? I can choose to. But it does not lead anyone out of the valley.
Romans 12:19-21 is a passage etched into the hearts of my family: "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. No 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.' Do not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." A secular way of rephrasing the point could be, "Kill them with kindness."
I don't have the best answers to every situation and I don't always like the above advice, lest we come across as being the "nice doormat" others walk all over.
I do ALWAYS advise to bring our anger to the Lord. Tell him of our hurts and outrage. And then leave those feelings at the foot of the cross. We do not stay in the place of darkness and fury. Rather, we let God take it and rest in the truth that vengeance is indeed his... even if he loves that wrongdoer as much as he loves us. And that our part is to trust him to make a way for us. We are victors in Christ, not victims. He sheds light on the dark ways of others and publicly elevates those who have been steadfast in their faith in him.
Certainly, we rejoice that "He does not deal with according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. (v.10). We are not worthy of such great mercy either. But his heart models for us love and compassion. We trust that he works a miracle in us to forgive others. His way brings healing and peace to our interior selves.
Psalm 103 is one of my favorites, and it jogged my memory of singing this beautiful song in the choir in my cathedral growing up: "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, Bless His Holy Name...Bless the Lord oh my soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name".. (Sometimes I sing it around the house as it has a comforting effect.) God's Blessing is something outside of ourselves that he gives to us. When we bless the Lord, we offer something that is within ourselves to God - in response. God Blesses us first and we give Blessings of Thanksgiving and adoration in response. To Bless our Lord means to praise Him, to exalt Him and to worship Him...
ReplyDeleteOur God is an awesome God. He not only defines and defeats sin - but because of His love for His children,
He is merciful and generous and delivers us from the deserved penalty for our sins by forgiving us of all the unrighteousness of his children, much like a father might do for his children....Our heavenly Father is loving us with motherly affection as well as loving us with fatherly compassion...