Psalm for Sunday, April 30, 2017

 Reflections

 Psalm 16: 1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11  (Read)

“With the Lord at my right hand, I shall never be shaken.”

 

In this psalm David expresses his joy and enthusiasm

for a life lived in the presence of God.  For us too, 

God is the source of our joy.  So long as we choose 

God and follow his Word, we too will be offered

that allotted cup of blessings that David refers to,

“Lord, my allotted portion and my cup,

you have made my destiny secure.”

St Peter cites the Psalm's verses in today’s 1^st reading,

and Peter affirms that David's verses speak of the

resurrection of Christ. (Acts 2: 25-28, 31)

A key reference for Peter is Verse 10 of the Psalm,

“You will not suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption,”

Death is destroyed; our faith in everlasting life with our 

resurrected Lord is confirmed.  As David says, “I set the 

Lord ever before me; abounding joy in your presence,

the delights at your right hand forever.”

For us too these are encouraging words.  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? (Luke 24:32)

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.

Psalm for Sunday, April 23, 2017

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 1^st 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 Peter tells us in today's 2^nd 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.

Psalm for Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017

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 first 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. (Acts 10:42) 

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.

 

Psalm for Sunday, April 9, 2017

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 with God’s Son.

We are reminded by St Paul in today's second reading
that Christ takes the form of a slave, obedient even to death 
for our sake. (Philippians 2:7)  And the prophet Isaiah in our 
first reading  speaks about the Messiah long before his birth 
and predicts that He will be beaten and His beard will be 
plucked. (Isaiah 50:6)   But the suffering servant does not rebel 
(as Isaiah tells us).  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.

Psalm for Sunday, April 2, 2017

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

Sunday’s second reading. (Romans 8:8).

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 one

made for us by the Son of God?  “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, as our psalmist says, 
“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. (Sunday’s first reading,  
Ezekiel 37:12-14)

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. (Romans 8:11)

This is that “full redemption” the psalmist talks 
about that is later made real to us in the Gospel 
story of Lazarus. (John 11:1-45)

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.

Psalm for Sunday, March 26, 2017

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 second 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,

where we did fruitless things in secret.

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.