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.
Reflections
Psalm 22: 8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 (Read)
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
David writes this psalm almost as though these
verses are to be part of the Passion of Christ.
The psalm even becomes the prayer of Christ
at the time of His crucifixion and speaks of the
suffering that our Savior experiences on our behalf.
People are the same today as they were back
then, when Jesus was being led to the cross.
We scoff at Him; we mock Him; we wag our
heads; and hurl insults at Him.
Why? Because He became sin; He took our sins upon himself and become contemptible in our eyes. He reminds us that we are a sinful people; He convicts us; He catches us in the
lie; He embarrasses us; He exposes us;
He accuses us of being
hypocrites.
The truth hurts! We who are mired in the pit take a
perverse
delight in seeing our Lord suffer for our sake.
Christ holds us to a higher standard; He remains above sin;
He speaks directly to God; He claims to be God's Son; and we
reject Him for this; and mock Him. We do not move to assist
Him;
let God rescue Him.
As our psalmist says, “He relied on the Lord – let God deliver
him;
let God rescue him, if He loves him.” These are the same words
used by those who conspired against Jesus when He was dying
on the cross. They did not realize that the suffering and death
of an innocent servant would restore life for sinful man. The
words
they spoke were to be fulfilled, not by Jesus coming down from
the cross, but by sinful humanity like us being delivered,
forgiven,
and lifted up along with God's Son.
We are reminded by St Paul in today's 2nd reading (Philippians
2)
that Christ takes the form of a slave, obedient even to death
for
our sake. And the prophet Isaiah in our 1st reading (Isaiah
50)
speaks about the Messiah long before His birth and predicts that
He will be beaten and His beard will be plucked. But, as Isaiah
tells us, the suffering servant does not rebel. He knows that He
will
not be put to shame. The Father is not far off, even when Jesus
lies hanging on the cross.
We know that what seemed like a moment of weakness for Christ
became a source of strength for the rest of us. As our psalmist
says,
“You Lord do not stay far off; my strength, come quickly to help
me.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist says, "All who see me scoff at me." Are you one
of those who mocked Christ? Can you identify with those who wagged
their heads and shouted "Let God deliver him; let God rescue him." Explain.
2. The verses of the Psalm are a plea to the Lord, "Be not far from me;
O my help, hasten to aid me." Give an example of a time when you have
called out to God to hurry and rescue you.
Reflections
Psalm 130: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (Read)
“With the Lord, there is mercy and fullness of redemption.”
The psalmist calls to the Lord from “out of the depths”
of his sin that has brought him near to death. He asks
the Lord, “Hear my cry for mercy.” He waits with longing
for the Lord, knowing that God forgives, and redeems us,
even when we abandon Him. “My soul looks for the Lord
more than sentinels for daybreak.”
There is no way we can please God, so long as we remain
in the flesh, as St Paul says in today's 2nd reading (Romans 8).
But God forgives us, gives us 'life in the spirit' and saves us
from death (remember 'the wages of sin is death.') What
greater act of forgiveness could there be than the sacrifice
of the Son of God for our sins? “But with you there is
forgiveness, that you may be revered.”
We too await our redemption with hope, knowing that even
if we are dead in our sins, the Lord will revive us. We too
cry out to the Lord for forgiveness – “Lord, may your ears
be attentive to my cry for mercy.”
Redemption is a promise made to us, just as the Lord
promised the Israelites that he would open their graves and
put his Spirit within them, so they would live (today's 1st reading,
Ezekiel 37.)
That same Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, and St Paul
tells us the Spirit of God will give life to our mortal bodies too.
This is that “full redemption” the psalmist talks about that is
later made real to us in the Gospel story of Lazarus.
And so we too have come to believe and revere our Lord,
as happens in the Gospel among the Jews in Bethany.
Truly, 'Our God is an awesome God.'
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist sings about the promise of forgiveness that is
available to us if we trust in the Lord. Speak about how you will
seek out God's mercy during this Lenten season.
2. The Psalm talks about 'plenteous redemption,' or the
'fullness
of redemption.' Tell what this means to you as you prepare for
the coming of Easter.
Reflections
Psalm 23: 1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 (Read)
“You anoint my head with oil."
Just as David was anointed by Samuel,
so too we are chosen by the Lord to be
His servants and to do His work.
Our own family members may scoff at this,
and we may think we are least likely to succeed
as a servant of God. But the Lord anoints ordinary
people to do extraordinary things. The weak
are chosen to shame the strong.
Where does the power come from to do the
Lord's work? Like David, we are anointed
with oil by the Lord, and we make a covenant
with Him. Our trust in the Lord is rewarded.
We must do as David did and open our hearts
to receive the Holy Spirit. St Paul says it another
way in this Sunday's 2nd reading – “Awake O' sleeper,
and Christ will give you light.”
Sunday's Gospel shows us that Jesus came to cure
our spiritual blindness. 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 and sloth.
Our response, as the psalmist says, is to let the Lord
lead us, to listen to Him, and to take courage from Him.
God 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, and we shall dwell in the house
of the Lord forever.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist says that the Lord guides us in right paths
for His name's sake. Do you feel chosen to do God's will?
If so, how are you overcoming any obstacles to make it happen?
2. The Psalm's verses affirm, 'The Lord is at my side,
with His rod and His staff that give me courage.' Are you
empowered to serve God and live out the Gospel? Give an
example.
Reflections
Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (Read)
“We are the people God shepherds, the flock
He guides.”
The Psalm is a call to praise the Lord
and to obey Him. We are cautioned not
to “harden our hearts” as the Israelites
did at Meribah. We are not to test the Lord
as our spiritual ancestors tested the Lord
“as in the day of Massah in the desert.”
After all, we are “God’s well tended flock.”
Our Lord is a good shepherd, and we are His
sheep. As St Paul tells us in today's 2nd reading,
the love of God is “poured out into our hearts
through the holy Spirit.” For that we should
“bow down in worship, kneel before the Lord
who made us.” And when we humble ourselves
and open our hearts to the Lord, we are set free.
We are no longer constrained by the things of
this world, and we can be open to His love and
His teachings.
Today's Gospel affirms that Our Lord Jesus
is our Savior, and just as the life of the Samaritan
woman at the well was transformed by the voice
of Jesus, we too can be transformed, if we truly
listen to the Lord. Not only will He tell us
“everything we ever did,” but He will give us
that living water which quenches our spiritual
thirst.
At that point our hearts will no longer be hardened.
We will 'bow down in worship,' and as our psalmist
says, we will greet our Lord with a song of praise.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist encourages us not to harden our hearts if we
hear God's voice. Do you find it difficult sometimes to carry
out
God's will in your life even if you believe He is speaking
to you?
Give an example.
2. The psalm reminds us that we are like sheep and the Lord is
our
shepherd. Are you willing to be just an ordinary sheep among His
flock? If so, what does it mean to you to be
shepherded by the Lord?
