Today’s responsorial psalm, Ps. 34, is filled with wisdom, giving us direction on
how to, truly, be filled with the Lord. “Bless
the Lord at all times,” the psalmist says to us. May God’s “praise…be ever in my mouth. Let my
soul glory in the Lord.” We are then
asked to invite others to “extol [God’s] name.” The psalmist then gives
personal witness: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from
all my fears.” The author of the psalms is King David, who had to flee from his
son Absalom, who was seeking to kill him.
David says to us: “Look to [God] that you may be radiant with joy, and
your faces may not blush with shame.”
When, in our own poverty, we call out to the Lord, the Lord hears our
cry, and “from all [our] distress [God] saves [us].” Not, necessarily, removing
that which is disturbing to us but
calming our spirits, strengthening our innermost beings, filling us with a divine
power the world cannot give. It is the same power, for instance, that gave
martyrs of old, and those of today, the
courage they needed in the face of martyrdom.
When I encounter disturbing events, do I focus on the Lord
or on the disturbance? Whichever I choose
determines my disposition or my attitude. If I choose to focus on the
disturbance, my anxiety, my confusion, my anger mushrooms. If go to the Lord
and share my concerns, my frustration—especially if I do so in writing and ask
for the Lord’s feedback, also in writing, I will be comforted, strengthened,
made whole, uplifted. What is your
choice?
Thank you for the reminder that the choice is always ours. Do we really trust and desire God's will or are we living as selfish children expecting God to provide a comfortable life for us?
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