Psalm for Sunday, July 22, 2012

Reflections

Psalm 23:  1-3, 3-4, 5, 6

 
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

We are like sheep,
and we look to the Good Shepherd
to lead us beside still waters,
and guide us along the right paths.
We fear no harm,
because the Good Shepherd is at our side. 
Where else should we turn?

Our Lord restores us when we are down,
protects us with his rod and his staff
when we are threatened.
We lack nothing when we trust in the Lord.
We fear nothing,
even when our lives are at a low point
spiritually or physically.

Our eyes are opened by our trust in the Lord;
we are led out of the dark valley of sin
where we did fruitless things in secret.
Like our psalmist King David,
we are anointed with oil by the Lord,
and we make a covenant with Him.

Our trust in the Lord is rewarded.
He sends His Son to save us,
and His Spirit to live within us.
Surely goodness and mercy
will follow us all the days of our life.

“I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
That promise that King David speaks of
in his final days is what Jesus died for.
Jesus reconciles us with the Father,
and when Jesus is raised up,
we too are resurrected.
 
Having been rescued by our Savior,
and now counted among His obedient sheep,
we are ready to do His will.
We are groomed to enter the Kingdom
and to sit at the table that God sets for us.
If we believe in Him, we too shall dwell
in the house of the Lord forever.

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.   Our Psalm speaks of the Lord as our shepherd. 
Do you believe you are one of His sheep?  What does it mean
to be counted among His flock?

2.  Our psalmist says that the Lord anoints his head with oil.
Are you one of the Lord's anointed?   Describe how
the Lord is using you as one of His anointed.

Psalm for Sunday, July 15, 2012

Reflections

Psalm 85:  9-10, 11-12, 13-14

“I will hear what God proclaims …
glory dwelling in our land.”

Our psalmist knows the importance of
listening carefully for the voice of the Lord.
We too must listen attentively for the voice
of the Lord and be careful not to miss
His presence among us. 
“I will listen for what God, the Lord, has to say.”

How do we seek Him out?
Where do we find the Lord?
We find Him when we read and study
His Word, His living Word,
as fresh now as it was thousands
of years ago.   For His Word is
as penetrating as a two edged sword,
able to separate bone from marrow;
convicting us; pointing the way to salvation;
and providing us with
an instruction manual for life.
All we have to do is follow it.

As our psalmist cries out,
“Near indeed is His salvation
to those who fear Him.”
For us Christians the Psalm
is more than a cry.
It is a promise of salvation --
the psalmist prepares the way of the Lord.

The psalmist promises that the Lord
himself will give us His benefits.
And what should we expect?
Nothing less than the coming
of the Messiah himself.
That’s what happens when
“Kindness and truth shall meet;”
when “Justice and peace shall kiss;”
when “Truth shall spring from the earth”
(when the Messiah is born).

The goodness and blessings that
the psalmist speaks of
are fulfilled in Christ.
Where else would we turn
to receive real spiritual abundance.?

For our Savior is truly
“Glory dwelling in our land.”

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.   Our psalmist speaks of, 'Glory dwelling in our land;'
and says that the Lord's salvation is 'near indeed'
to those who fear him.   These verses suggest that our Savior
is close at hand and accessible to all of us who fear Him.
Describe how our Savior is present to you.

2.  The Psalm says, 'The Lord himself will give His benefits.'
Tell of the benefits you are receiving from the Lord.

Psalm for Sunday, July 8, 2012

 
Reflections

Psalm 123:  1-2, 2, 3-4

“As the eyes of  servants
are on the hands of their master,
... so are our eyes on the Lord our God.”

We are called to serve God
and to do His will, as Jesus did.
And so our eyes must be on God,
that we may know His will for us,
and that we may serve Him
and our neighbor as well.

Where else would we turn?
To be measured by men?
To get direction from anyone else?
Like Ezekiel (1st reading),
our success is measured
by doing God’s will and
following His direction in our lives.

Our psalmist says,
“We have our fill of contempt,
we have our fill of insult from the proud.”
For it is the arrogant ones
who rely only on themselves,
giving little thought to God.

Today’s Gospel tells us that
Jesus was not respected in his home town;
he was rejected
by his townspeople and neighbors.

Is that what we face from family or friends,
when we do the Lord’s work
or proclaim His Gospel?
If so, then we are united with Christ,
and like St. Paul (2nd reading),
“We can be content with insults,
hardships, persecutions and constraints …
His grace is sufficient for us.”

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist calls for us to fix our eyes on the Lord.  
Describe how you focus on the Lord in your faith journey.
Tell how you are able to discern God's will for your life.

2.   Our psalmist says he is fed up, having been
the object of contempt and mockery
from the arrogant ones around him.
Even Jesus was mocked in his native village.  
Tell of how you deal with insult and persecution
when you proclaim the Gospel.

 

Psalm for Sunday, July 1, 2012

Reflections

Psalm 30:  2, 4-6, 11-13

“I praise you Lord, for you raise me up …
you kept me from going down into the pit.”

God is in the business of healing;
as our 1st reading says,
God did not make death,
nor does he rejoice
at the destruction of the living.
His “Divine favor lasts a lifetime.”
 
Just as Jairus' daughter
is saved from death
in this Sunday's Gospel,
we too are able to be saved
from going down into the pit,
by the grace of God.
We too are eligible
for a spiritual resurrection
if our faith is strong.

We may be rebuked by God
for disobeying Him.
We are, after all, his wayward children,
and he loves us as a Father loves his own.
God's compassion and mercy
are with us not only in this life,
but in eternity.
“Divine anger lasts but a moment;
divine favor lasts a lifetime.”

Our Lord Jesus himself
was raised up from the pit by the Father,
even though He bore the weight of our sins.
God’s anger over the sins of all men
that Christ took upon himself,
lasted but a moment.

The joy of resurrection comes to us at dawn,
after a terrible night, as it came
to those early followers of Jesus.
“At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.”
And that alone is reason enough
to change our “mourning into dancing,”
“to clothe us with gladness,”
We are prompted
to “sing endless praise to the Lord.”
“O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks.”

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our psalmist praises God for having rescued him
and brought him 'up from the netherworld.'  
Tell about how you have been saved
from your enemies, the devil and his companions.

2.  The Psalm says that the anger of the Lord
lasts but a moment.   Have you been rebuked by the Lord?
If so, what did you learn from this, and in what way
are you grateful for being corrected by the Lord?

Psalm for Sunday, June 24, 2012

  
Reflections

Psalm 139:  1-3, 13-15

“Lord, you have probed me, you know me.”

Our psalmist David tells us
that there is no way to hide from God,
who is all knowing,
and who is present to us always.
 
David says later in the Psalm,
“Where can I hide from your spirit?
From your presence, where can I flee?”
There really is no need for us
to run away from the Lord.
His presence within us draws us closer to Him.
There is no reason for anxiety
just because He knows all our inner secrets
(“With all my ways you are familiar.”)

In fact his presence is merely to confirm
that we have a share in His divinity,
After all, God is the one
“Who knit us in our mother's womb.”
He is our Creator, so why would we run from Him?  
On the contrary, we are drawn to Him,
and we are led by Him along right paths.

“Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.” 
When we hear these words,
we are reminded that John the Baptist
leaps in his mother's womb
when Mary visits Elizabeth. 
John heralds the coming of Christ
even while he remains in the depths
of his mother’s womb. 
Surely John the Baptist was
wonderfully made and so much of what
our psalmist says seems fit to apply to John.

As for us, truly the Lord is familiar
with all our ways; he knows our soul full well,
and he knows our frame as well. 
Just as the hand of God was with John
from the moment of his conception,
so the Lord has a plan for each of us as well.
 
We are wonderfully made because the Lord
wouldn't have it any other way.
He equips us to do his work;
to be a light to our families and our communities;
to preach the Gospel and 'when necessary use words.'
 
We may not all be headed for a sojourn
in the desert, but the Lord knows
when we sit and when we stand;
he scrutinizes our journeys,
and he has made us for a purpose. 

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our Psalm response is, "I praise you, for I am wonderfully made."  
Do you believe that you are created by God to do His will,
that you are made for a purpose?  Explain.

2.  Our psalmist says, "O Lord, you have probed me, you know me."  
We cannot hide anything from our God; He is familiar with all our ways.  
Are you convicted by these words?  
Are there sins you commit that you would prefer to
keep in the dark, or on a side porch, away from God's knowledge?
In what way are you grateful for the scrutiny of the Lord?

Psalm for Sunday, June 17, 2012

Reflections

Psalm 92: 2-3, 13-14, 15-16 

Displaying an attitude of gratitude.  Sending a thank-you note.  Saying your "please and thank you’s”.   Such are lessons we teach our children as we train them in what is socially proper.  If only we would spend as much time considering what is proper in the spiritual sense. 

God our Creator is all-deserving and worthy of our praise.  A well-known prayer guide pinpoints five essential elements of prayer.  Adoration, Confession, Petition, and Intercession,
are ALWAYS followed by Thanksgiving. 
Psalm 92:1 is often quoted in support:
"It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, Most High." 

Also to be noted is the use of the word "sing" in that first verse. 
The Lord loves to hear our voices in song. 
Thus, hymns of any sort are an integral part of worship.
Something about singing focuses our hearts on Jesus and softens
HIS heart to accept our prayerful pleas. 

Our Abba Father gives us our days in 24 hour increments. 
Could we handle any more?  His grace is enough for each day; 
the psalmist writes, "(It is good...) to proclaim your kindness at dawn
and your faithfulness throughout the night."

The cedar of Lebanon is a mighty and beautiful tree referenced
throughout Scripture.  In the first reading, a small cedar shoot
is replanted and compared to a "majestic cedar" as it grows strong
with its roots firmly planted.  The Psalm says,
“The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow." 

Later, the psalmist writes, "They shall bear fruit even in old age; 

vigorous and sturdy shall they be ...."  
Living in a righteous manner, with the foundations
of our beliefs firmly rooted, we, too, are called to have
the strength and fruitfulness of the cedar, even unto the
very end of our earthly lives.  The psalmist uses
the imagery of being solid, he speaks of the Lord as "my rock."     

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  "Lord, you are holy indeed.  It is right to give you thanks and praise .... "
are familiar words to any Mass-goer.   How do you sincerely
give thanks to the Lord in your daily life?

2.  How can you become more like the upright palm tree
or the majestic and firmly-rooted Lebanese cedar?  
Do others see you as a just and righteous person
through your everyday speech and actions?  
What can you change about yourself so that you, too, 
can "bear fruit even in old age?"    

 

Psalm for Sunday, June 10, 2012

(Corpus Christi)

Reflections

 
Psalm  116: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18

“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?”

“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.
“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!

“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 psalmist asks, "How shall I make a return to the Lord
for all the good he has done for me?" 
How do you go about repaying the Lord for your salvation?

2.  Per the Psalm, we are obliged to pay our vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.  In what ways do you continue
to express your love of the Lord in your faith community?