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, as our 2nd reading
tells us (Ephesians 1:17-23).
With such an awesome God on His throne, what hope
do we have as mere human beings that He will have
anything more to do with us? How far removed can
we be if this Jesus is taken up to heaven and has all
things put beneath His feet (including us)?
Fortunately, for us men, Jesus leaves us with a way
to share in His divinity, through the Holy Spirit
which He gives to us. His power and presence remain
within us, so long as we repent from our sins and
believe in Him.
Power is often associated with arrogance and brutal
treatment, but our God uses His power to work
miracles, and bring about healing. 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.
As today's Gospel tells us, after Jesus' ascension, the
disciples begin their active ministry, empowered by
the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28: 16-20). 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 joyful cries; sing praise to God!”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm speaks of God mounting His throne and reigning over
the nations. If God is raised up so far above us, how do
you go about
having a relationship with our Lord so that He is present to you?
2. The Psalm's verses tell of God as the great king over all
the earth,
and we are urged to sing praise to our king.
Describe how our Lord's
ascension inspires you to celebrate with
shouts of joy.
Reflections
Psalm 66: 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20 (Read)
“Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”
The Psalm celebrates the awesome power of God,
manifest in “His tremendous deeds among the children
of Adam.” Our psalmist recalls the dividing of the Red
Sea, which delivered Israel from the Egyptians, by the
favor of God. That same awesome power that split the
Red Sea became available to the early apostles of the
Church, as they went about healing and doing signs
and wonders.
Where does that power come from to heal the lame and
drive out unclean spirits? It comes from the Holy Spirit,
who accomplishes in each of us a spiritual resurrection.
No wonder those early believers in Samaria were eager
to have St Peter and St John lay hands on them so they
could receive the Holy Spirit (1st reading, Acts 8:5-8, 14, 17).
In response, they cry out to God with joy, as our psalmist
says, “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.”
We too cannot help but sing praise to God when we feel
His presence within us. In today's Gospel (John 14:15-21)
our Savior promises that He will not leave us spiritual orphans.
Rather, He assures us that we are in Him and He is in us.
We proclaim His glorious praise, and we on earth worship Him.
We want all the earth to know what God has done for us;
as the Psalm says, we shout joyfully to God and proclaim His
glorious praise.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm urges us to say to God, "How tremendous are
your deeds!" Speak of the Lord's awesome works in your life
and
how you go about praising Him.
2. Our psalmist blesses God who "refused me not." Tell of how
your petitions and prayers have been answered by the Lord.
Reflections
Psalm 33: 1-2, 4-5, 18-19 (Read)
“The eyes of the Lord are upon those
who fear Him, to deliver them from death,
and preserve them in spite of famine.”
The Psalm says that the Lord's eyes are
upon us because we hold Him in awe,
we praise Him. 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 spiritual bread.
Where else would we turn for deliverance from
death, the kind of death which is a consequence
of sin? Remember, “The wages of sin is death,”
and we are all afflicted. Fortunately for us, Christ
destroyed death and brought life to us
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.
It is through His Plan that we are saved. Our
own feeble efforts count for nothing. We must be
submissive and abandon ourselves to His Plan.
Our Savior himself tells us in today's Gospel,
"I am the way and the truth and the life," and He
teaches us, "Whoever believes in me will do the
works that I do." (John 14: 1-12)
Because Christ humbles himself for our sake,
becomes a slave to our sin, there is hope for us,
even in our time of spiritual famine. That is the
meaning of the response, “Lord, let your mercy
be on us, as we place our trust in you.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist speaks of holding the Lord
in awe and knows that the eyes of the Lord are upon
us. Describe how you react when the eyes of the Lord
are upon you and you are in His presence.
2. The Psalm Response today inspires us to place
our trust in the Lord and await His mercy. Tell of
how your trust in the Lord has strengthened you and
inspired you to do His will.
Reflections
Psalm 23: 1-2, 3-4, 5, 6 (Read)
“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want."
We are like sheep, and we look to the Good Shepherd
to lead us beside still waters, and guide us along right
paths. We fear no harm, because the Good Shepherd
is at our side.
The Psalm's words are a source of peace for us,
a source of strength, a source of healing. The Lord
provides for us, as he does the little sparrows and the
lilies of the field – “There is nothing I shall want.”
The Lord restores us, for we had gone astray like sheep,
but have returned to the shepherd and guardian of our
souls (today's 2nd reading, 1 Peter 2:20-25). Jesus
himself assures us that we who enter the sheepfold
through Him will be saved and will find pasture (Gospel,
John 10:1-10).
Our psalmist promises that we are to be anointed by
the Lord, “You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.”
This cup becomes for us the precious blood of Christ, the
source of our salvation.
We lack nothing when we trust in the Lord. We fear nothing,
even when our lives are at a low point spiritually or physically.
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 dwell in the house
of the Lord forever.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm assures us that we will be given repose by the
Lord
and led to restful waters. Describe how these verses are a
source
of peace and a source of healing for you.
2. Our psalmist assures us that only goodness and mercy will
follow us all the days of our life and that we shall dwell in the house
of
the Lord forever. Tell of how you are comforted by these words
that speak of our eternal joy in the Lord's mansion.
Reflections
Psalm 16: 1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (Read)
“With the Lord at my right hand, I shall never be shaken.”
This psalm of David speaks to us about a belief in
an everlasting life with God. “Lord, my allotted portion
and my cup, you have made my destiny secure.”
The distress that afflicts us from time to time when
we feel separated from God is overcome – “Keep me,
O God, for in you I take refuge."
St Peter cites the Psalm's verses in today’s 1st
reading (Acts 2: 14, 22-33) and affirms that David's
verses speak of the resurrection of Christ. “You will
not suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.”
Death is destroyed; our faith in everlasting life with
our resurrected Lord is confirmed. “I set the Lord ever
before me; abounding joy in your presence, the delights
at your right hand forever.”
For us these are encouraging words, with a promise that
we too can look forward to being lifted up and spending
the rest of our days in the presence of the Lord.
The Lord promises, if we are His faithful servants, that
we will not have to see the pit; He will not abandon us.
As David says, this is enough to make our hearts glad
and our souls rejoice. When the Lord is with us, do not
our hearts burn within us, as the two disciples declare
on the road to Emmaus in today's Gospel?
Our burdens are made light; His yoke is easy, and that
gladdens the heart and strengthens the body.
We raise a song of praise to our risen Savior!
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm 's verses affirm that we who are His faithful
ones
will remain in the presence of our Lord forever. Speak of
how
you are encouraged by the Psalm's promises.
2. Our psalmist inspires us to set the Lord ever before us and
if we do so, "My soul rejoices, my body too abides in
confidence."
How do you go about putting the Lord first in your life despite all
the worldly distractions that surround
us.
Reflections
Psalm 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24 (Read)
“I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the Lord came to my help.”
Once again we visit this powerful psalm of praise
and thanksgiving. This time the verses stress
the enduring love that God has for us – so much so
that despite the part we played in crucifying His son,
God went ahead and carried out His plan to save us.
“God’s mercy endures forever.”
“I was hard pressed and falling, but the Lord came
to my help.” This verse could be about us. Are we
any different from our psalmist, any less desperate
or in need of the Lord's healing power and presence
in our lives?
“My strength and my courage is the Lord.” He is
present to us, just as He was in those early days of the
church described in today's 1st reading (Acts 2: 42-47),
and in the Gospel (John 20: 19-31). We may not have
the awesome experience of physically putting our hand
in the Lord’s side and our fingers into the nail marks
on His hand, but He is with us.
We are victorious over death. The Lord’s deliverance
is cause for joy. Just when we were down, the Lord raises
us up. “I was hard pressed and falling, but the Lord has
been my Savior.” The joyful shout of victory is heard.
We are on firm ground after all – Christ has become our
cornerstone, as our psalmist reminds us. Christ has become
a source of strength for us, despite His apparent weakness
that day on the cross, when He died a shameful death.
The Lord is present to us when we are frightened as He
was present to those frightened disciples in the upper room.
Who would have been more hard pressed and falling
than they were before Jesus appeared to them and blessed them
and extended His peace to them? That same source of strength
and might the psalmist speaks of is available to us; all we have
to do is open our hearts and receive His saving grace.
As St Peter tells us in today's 2nd reading (1 Peter 1: 3-9),
Christ’s
resurrection gives us a living hope and a powerful faith. This
is
cause for rejoicing: “By the Lord has this been done; it is
wonderful in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made.”
Along with the disciples and the early church, “Let us be glad
and rejoice in it.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist was 'hard pressed and falling,' but affirms
that
the Lord has been his savior. Describe how you have been
saved by the Lord and given strength and courage by Him.
2. The Psalm declares, "The joyful shout of victory is heard."
Speak of what makes you joyful during this Easter season, and
tell of how you have shouted and rejoiced in the Lord's
resurrection.
Reflections
Psalm 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23 (Read)
“The right hand of the Lord has struck with power.”
The Psalm celebrates a great victory over death.
The victory is won by the Lord’s 'right hand,' a clear advance notice of the power of the Son of God.
“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works
of the Lord.” These could have been Jesus' own
words, speaking about His resurrection and His
food, which is to do the work of the Father.
Our risen Savior has defeated death and the power
that sin has over us. And we live on in His kingdom. Having become yoked to Jesus, we willingly praise God and follow His direction in our lives.
We may ask, “Having been saved, what are we
obliged to do? What is our commission?”
In today's 1st reading, St Luke tells us what we are
commissioned to do – we are to preach to the people
and testify that Jesus is the one anointed by God.
We are an Easter people; Christ has become our
cornerstone. As the psalmist says, “The stone the
builders rejected has become the corner stone.”
The mystery is that Christ has become a source of
strength for us, despite His apparent weakness that
day on the cross, when He died a shameful death.
Only the Lord could have done this remarkable
thing – “This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist affirms, "I shall declare the works of the
Lord."
Tell what this verse means to you. How are you going about
doing the work of the Lord?
2. The Psalm declares, "The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone." Speak about how our Savior
is like a rock in your life and how you build your life around
Jesus.
