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.
Reflections
Psalm 119: 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34 (Read)
“Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord.”
Our psalmist is in prayer asking for many things.
He asks, "Open my eyes, that I may consider the
wonders of your law." We may not think of the
law as wonderful, but rather may consider it restrictive
and harsh, but if we learn to do His will, we find that
we are liberated, set free from the sin that drags us
down. We choose life instead of death.
The Lord reveals to us very clearly how to live a life
that is "happy" and full of peace. "Happy are those
who observe God's decrees, who seek the Lord with
all their heart."
Our psalmist petitions, "Instruct me, O Lord, in the
way of your statutes that I may exactly observe them."
We cannot do this by ourselves, without God's help.
And so our psalmist asks, "Give me discernment that
I may keep [your law] with all my heart."
Doing God's will (keeping His commandments) isn't
easy, but having received His grace, and having been
granted discernment to know right from wrong,
good from evil, we can follow Him with conviction.
Our 'yes' will mean 'yes' to the Lord, and our 'no' will
mean 'no' to the devil and his minions. And just like
our psalmist we also pray "May my ways be firm in
the observance of your laws!"
Having decided to do His will, we take delight in
keeping His statutes; they are like honey to us.
And the blessings we receive are part of what
God has prepared for those who love Him.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist affirms that those who walk in the law of the Lord,
those who observe His decrees, will be happy and blessed. Based
on your own experience, how do you seek the Lord by keeping His
commandments.
2. The Psalm's verses petition the Lord to instruct us in the way of His
statutes. Tell of how you receive guidance and discernment from the Lord
that will help you observe His law and keep it with all your heart.
Reflections
Psalm 112: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (Read)
“Light shines through the darkness
to the upright.”
The Psalm inspires us to have a right
relationship with the Lord
(becoming 'upright.') Having done so,
having delighted in God's commands,
we begin to imitate Him and treat our
brothers and sisters as He would do.
“Light shines through the darkness to
the upright; he is gracious and merciful
and just.” These are heavenly qualities
(being gracious, and merciful and just),
and having God's light in our hearts
inspires us to do good works,
to “conduct our affairs with justice,”
“give to the poor lavishly.”
And as we measure out a good and
generous measure, our measure is returned
to us many times over. As the Psalm says,
we will be lifted up from within; our "horn
shall be exalted in glory."
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm's verses are in keeping with this Sunday's Gospel
and the reading from Isaiah. All three affirm that we people of
faith are the 'light of the world' and are motivated to do good
deeds.
Give an example of how your light shines through in the darkness.
2. Our psalmist speaks of a man whose 'heart is firm, trusting
in
the Lord,' whose 'heart is steadfast.' In our world today, what
makes
you firm of heart and trusting in the Lord?
Reflections
Psalm 24: 7, 8, 9, 10 (Read)
“Lift up, O gates, reach up,
that the king of glory may come in!”
Scripture tells us that even the heavens
cannot contain Him, yet our Lord is
content to build a house within our
hearts. Our own bodies become temples
of the Lord, and we must throw open
the gates of our hearts and let Him enter.
He is the king of glory!
The psalm celebrates Christ's ascension into
the holy city of Jerusalem, and reminds us
that He is 'mighty in battle,' able to defeat
whatever dark forces are present within us.
We herald His coming, our gates our lifted,
'that the king of glory may come in.' He is
'strong and mighty' and will protect us from
all our enemies, external and internal.
The psalm reminds us we are to prepare
to receive our Lord. We must be clean of
hand and pure of heart; we must 'reach up
our portals' to a higher level if we are truly
to become a temple of God.
The Psalm is guiding us to prepare ourselves
from within, so that we are made ready to
receive Him when He comes. Our psalmist
tells us that those who love the Lord and those
who seek God's face will receive Him. Just as
Jesus is consecrated to the Lord in this Sunday's
Gospel, just so must we be consecrated before
we can receive Jesus in our hearts. When we are
ready, we can join with the psalmist and say
confidently, 'It is the Lord!'
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm twice urges us to lift up our gates
that the king of glory may come in. What are you
doing to prepare a place for the Lord in your heart?
2. Our Lord will build a house within our hearts if we
allow Him to do so. Once your body becomes a temple
of the Lord, how will this change your behavior?
Reflections
Psalm 27: 1, 4, 13-14 (Read)
"The Lord is my life's refuge."
The Psalm is about trusting the Lord
and our desire to spend the rest of our days
in His presence. The Psalm says, "One thing
I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life."
Perhaps this desire to be with the Lord
is what inspired Simon Peter and his brother
Andrew that day by the Sea of Galilee, when
they left their father and their nets to follow
Jesus and be his disciples (Sunday's Gospel).
Surely, Peter and Andrew recognized Jesus
as their own personal light and their own
personal Savior. As the Psalm says,
"The Lord is my light and my salvation."
As we grow older, we too take steps on our
journey to be with the Lord, to enter His house.
Recall that Jesus said, “My house has many
mansions.” It is no accident that older people
want to go to daily Mass and be with the Lord
as much as possible. They are called to that
promise of eternal joy when they may “gaze on
the loveliness of the Lord” all the days of their lives.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Two verses of the Psalm assure us that we
should not fear, or be afraid of anyone, so long
as the Lord is our refuge and our salvation. How
do you apply these verses to your daily life?
2. Our psalmist asks, "To dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of my life that I may gaze on the
loveliness of the Lord." Where is the house of the Lord,
and how do you believe you will get there?
Reflections
Psalm 40: 2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 (Read)
“He put a new song into my mouth.”
Our psalmist David waits for the Lord,
to reach out to Him, to make God hear his cry.
We are like that. We are weak on our own;
we need the Lord’s strength to be delivered
from our sinful ways.
As the prophet Isaiah says, God is our
strength (1st reading). We put our trust
in Him. Our God is an awesome God.
“Many shall look on [our God] in awe
and trust in the Lord.” We are called to be
God's holy people, as St Paul tells us (2nd reading).
Our psalmist says, “He put a new song into
my mouth.” In response we sing a new song
unto the Lord. For us, having waited for
the Lord, it is no longer the same old tune
or the same old us. We are in fact a new
creation, singing out the good news.
Where does our joyful spirit come from?
It comes from the Lord, and we are called
to share what He has given us and to do
His will.
We are called to follow Christ.
Obedience isn’t an unpleasant chore for us;
instead, as the Psalm tells us,
“To do your will is my delight.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm Response this Sunday is, "Here am I, Lord;
I come to do your will." Speak of how you discern God's
will
in your life, and tell how you are carrying out what God
wants
you to do.
2. Our psalmist David says, "God put a new song into my
mouth."
Have you too had a conversion in your walk with the
Lord? Tell of
your own experience.
Reflections
Psalm 29: 1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10 (Read)
“The God of glory thunders.”
The Psalm is about the splendor and the power of God.
“Give to the Lord the glory due God’s name. Bow down
before the Lord’s holy splendor.” The Psalm speaks
of the voice of the Lord thundering over the waters.
“The voice of the Lord is power, the voice of the Lord
is splendor.”
That same awesome voice was heard over the Jordan
River that day when the heavens were torn open and
the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus just after he was
baptized. What could be more powerful than the voice
of God declaring, “This is my beloved Son, with whom
I am well pleased.” (Gospel, Matthew 3: 13-17)
What happened at the Jordan River that day was to fulfill
what the Lord said to Isaiah (Sunday's lst reading, Isaiah 42),
“Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with
whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit.”
The Lord's baptism may have happened over 2000 years
ago, but for us that was a life changing moment.
God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power
that day, the power to serve the faithful (people like us),
and to do battle on our behalf with the devil. (See also
Sunday's 2nd reading, Acts 10: 34-38)
From that time forward we too became eligible to serve
the Lord as His chosen ones. Isaiah tells us what our
spiritual mission is to be; like Jesus, we are to be a light
to the nations, and open the eyes of the blind (those who
do not know the Lord). And imitating Jesus, we are
to bring out prisoners from confinement (those who may
be imprisoned by sin). What better way would there be
for us to serve the Lord?
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm asks us, as sons of God, to give to the Lord
glory and praise. Tell of what you are doing to serve the
Lord
and adore Him within your family and your community.
2. Our psalmist speaks of a powerful, majestic God, who
speaks with a mighty, thundering voice. How is God's
majesty
at work in you, and how have you been empowered to be a good
witness for the Lord?
