Suffering With Joy

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 32

August 20, 2010

On Saturday’s we join Jenny at Just a Minute to reflect on words of a particular Psalm.  Meet me and other bloggers who enjoy short meditations on these classic  prayers.

It’s easy.  If you are a blogger, just write a post on today’s psalm with a link to Just a Minute, go there and fill out your name and post address in the Mister Linky application, and presto!  Others will find you at Jenny’s place.  If you aren’t a blogger, just enjoy reading our posts and leave a comment if you are so moved.

Psalm 32 is one of the penitential psalms of the Church and a good one to recite after confession. “Because He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name..” (Luke 1: 49)

v. 1-2  Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. [To be blessed is to be full of the grace of God.  God is all truth and the man who's spirit contains deceitfulness is pairing with the great Adversary who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning against God.  We must not fool ourselves or rationalize our sins, for to do that is to forgo true repentance.  When we examine our conscience we must hide nothing from ourselves or from God. We must admit all transgressions completely so that God may heal us.  Only He can forgive our sins.  We cannot forgive our own sins.]

v.3-4  When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. [With repeated, deliberate sin our body and soul waste away.  Our ability to love God, neighbor and ourselves shrivels.  We are attached to something poisonous that wastes away the good in us until we lack the strength to overcome any temptation.  God's hand leaves us no peace.  His love is so great, and His desire to unite us to Himself so powerful that He nudges us constantly until we confess. If we resist claiming our transgressions in full, we prolong our inner agony.  We can only recover by deep repentance, confession, and amendment of our life with the help of God's grace.]

v. 5-7  I acknowledged my sin to thee, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;then Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin.  Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to thee; at a time of distress, in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.  Thou art a hiding place for me, thou preservest me from trouble; thou dost encompass me with deliverance. [Our safest refuge is in the heart of the Lord, the Christ whose heart was pierced with a lance, the one who hides us from evil. When our relationship with the Lord is made right, we desire to urge everyone who is God-oriented to praise Him for His eternal love of us.  The sick who have been made well by repentance are made new, and a fresh start is cause for joy.  At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Great Thanksgiving, we re-present to the Father His Son who has encompassed us with deliverance by the shedding of His precious blood.]

v. 8-11  I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eyes upon you.  Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not keep with you.  Many are the pangs of the wicked; but steadfast love surrounds him who trusts in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! [Sin is stubborn and irrational behavior, a fruit of a wrong relationship with God. We are admonished not to be senselessly stubborn, because God will curb us in His way if necessary and we will suffer the consequences of our stubbornness.  How many times have I persisted stubbornly in doing what I want rather than what God wants?  How many times do I give into bad habits I am too lazy to battle against?  Am I not the stubborn mule?  And do I not feel the whip for this stubbornness?  How much of my difficulties in life and relationships are because I won't give in to God? Lord, I need to abandon myself to You, to wrap myself in your steadfast love and not look with longing backwards to my evil ways.  Let me shout with joy from an upright heart infused with the Holy Spirit that is directed towards Thee alone.]

V. Praised be Jesus Christ.

R. Now and forever.  Amen.

Click on the link above for the reason I ended the post this way.

Tags: psalms

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 31

August 14, 2010

King David Playing the Zither, Andrea Celesti (1637-1712 Venice), oil on canvas, private collection

On Saturdays we join Jenny at Just a Minute for the Praying the Psalms meme.  Meet me and other bloggers who reflect on a new psalm each week, and leave comments if you are so moved.

In this psalm, which alternates between bewailing his physical and mental sufferings and the treachery of others, and expressing complete trust in God, King David exposes the misery and helplessness of the human condition. The final verses contain a great exhortation, a great call to action for the Christian.  But before we get there, we stop along the way to join Christ on the Cross in verse 5:

v.5: Into Thy hands I commend my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me O Lord, O faithful God. [Recounted in Luke 23:46, we see our Savior, apparently a great failure over Whom Satan has apparently triumphed, making the final offering of Himself to His Father. With these words on His dying lips, Christ shows us that no matter how dark things seem to earthly eyes, with the heavenly eyes of the soul we know without a doubt that we are redeemed, that God is faithful to His promises, that with true repentance comes true forgiveness, and we will not be put to shame (cast into hell) forever.

From the hour of Compline in the Divine Office on Fridays:

R.  Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit (which is repeated)

V.  For You have redeemed us, O Lord, God of truth.

R. I commend my spirit.

V.  Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

R.  Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

The Church prays this before sleep that should we die in the night, we will sleep in the Lord. It has always been a favorite of mine because of the expressed abandonment to Divine Providence and reminder of Christ's suffering.  We can never ponder enough that final act of self-sacrifice that culminated in our redemption, and we can never express trust in God too much. ]

And now the great exhortation:

v. 23-24: Love the Lord all you His faithful ones! The Lord keeps those who are constant, but more than requites those who act proudly.  Take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the Lord. [To be constant does not mean we never sin.  It means that we constantly repent and attempt in good faith to live the Gospel.  We keep our eyes on the words and example of Christ and seek His light.  Getting distracted by the evil in this world and willfully placing ourselves in occasions of sin disturbs constancy and impedes us on that road through the narrow gate.

The proud and haughty who live as if they are above the law and who abuse the anawim will be requited according to their crimes, an eternal and horrifying requital from which there is no escape. Just as the Jews suffered in the temporal world, so we continue to suffer today from the proud.  Although the Lord has come and opened the gates of heaven for us, we must courageously walk in His bloody footsteps, for the servant is not greater than the Master. But each day affords us many opportunities to be stouthearted and hope in the Lord, especially when we are tempted to revenge, to contumely, and to nursing hurt feelings. Lord, that I may be humble and trust in Thee completely - that I may follow Thee courageously with an unwavering heart.]

Tags: psalms

Vengeance is Mine

August 9, 2010

Last week I wrote about how hackers had cost me both money and peace of mind.  Admittedly, my first reaction was to think of some colorful curses like the well-known Arabic one: “May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits.”  I even came up with a few highly applicable and intricate ones of my own.  But St. Paul writes in Romans 12: 17-19,

To no man render evil for evil. Provide good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men. Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written: Revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.

It’s clear the Lord’s message is, “Forget about it and let Me take care of it.” Now that is not so easy, but it surely is best. After all, it’s a trillion to one odds that I would ever be able to get direct satisfaction from these predators.  But what of future wrongs?  Until we’re dead, we always have the opportunity for someone to work us over.  How can I develop the mindset God wants me to have so I can really let go and leave things up to Him?

As I was pondering these things, it so happened that my Bible fell open at Psalm 9B (10).  How this occurred I don’t remember, but it seems that the lesson was meant for me and I have been mulling it over all week.  Human nature hasn’t changed in the thousands of years since this prayer was written.  But this psalm surely can bring consolation to the abused and afflicted.  In fact, it describes daily life in a corrupt society we must all deal with and still stay Christian.  As you read this, fill in your own blanks to see how it applies.

1.  Why, O Lord, do you stand aloof?  Why hide in times of distress?

2.  Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted, who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived.

3.  For the wicked man glories in his greed, and the covetous blasphemes, sets the Lord at naught.  The wicked man boasts,

4.  “He will not avenge it”; “there is no God,” sums up his thoughts.

5.  His ways are secure at all times; your judgments are far from his mind;

6.  all his foes he scorns.  He says in his heart, “I shall not be disturbed; from age to age I shall be without misfortune.”

7.  His mouth is full of cursing, guile and deceit; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

8.  He lurks in ambush near the villages; in hiding he murders the innocent; his eyes spy upon the unfortunate.

9.  He waits in secret like a lion in his lair; he lies in wait to catch the afflicted; he catches the afflicted and drags them off in his net.

10.  He stoops and lies prone till by his violence fall the unfortunate.

11.  He says in his heart, “God has forgotten; he hides his face, he never sees.”

12.  Rise, O Lord!  O God, lift up your hand.

13.  Forget not the afflicted!  Why should the wicked man despise God, saying in his heart, “He will not avenge it”?

14.  You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow, taking them in your hands.  On you the unfortunate man depends; of the fatherless you are the helper.

15.  Break the strength of the wicked and of the evildoer; punish their wickedness; let them not survive.

16.  The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations have perished out of his land.

17.  The desire of the afflicted you hear, O Lord; strengthening their hearts,

18.  you pay heed to the defense of the fatherless and the oppressed, that man, who is of earth, may terrify no more.

Since Holy Scripture is of the Holy Spirit, these inspired words show clearly how God regards those who prey upon the poor. This psalm is both a caution never to throw in with evildoers, and a consolation to the oppressed. If our eyes are unwaveringly fixed on God, the evil men of this world and the demons of hell behind them cannot terrify us.  Yes, I trust in God to deal with the hackers, scammers, murderers, liars and thieves in life as St. Paul urged, and will pray this psalm often that they be prevented from harming others.  I pray also never to be their useful idiot.

Tags: psalms, trust in God

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 30

July 7, 2010

On Saturdays I join Jenny at Just a Minute where we share thoughts on the meme, Praying the Psalms.  Today we are reflecting on Psalm 30, which is thanksgiving for deliverance from death.

1.  I will extol you, O Lord, for you drew me clear and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.  2.  O Lord, my God, I cried out to you and you healed me. [Yes, Lord, you came to my aid in temptation so that Satan could not rejoice over a fall.  With the sacrament of Penance you healed my soul, giving me the grace of conversion of heart.]

11.  …Hear O Lord, and have pity on me; O Lord, be my helper. [O Lord, you are always there when I call upon you, taking pity on my weakness. You are my helper in following the Gospel and all good that I do.]

12.  You changed my mourning into dancing; you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my soul might sing praise to you without ceasing; O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks. [Mourning over sin transforms into joyous dancing of spirit, celebrating the forgiveness and salvation that has come to each of us through Jesus.  In heaven my soul will continue to sing the praise begun here on earth in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - an unceasing celebration of thanksgiving, the eternal todah to which we are all invited. Lord, grant that I be faithful to you in this life that I may dance with the angels in the next.]

Tags: psalms

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 27

July 17, 2010

David points to his eye: an illustration of verse 13 of Psalm 27, tempera colors and gold paint on parchment, Master of Jean de Mandeville French, Paris, about 1360 - 1370

Psalm 27 is a prayer of trust in God no matter the adversities we face.  Every verse speaks of faith in the power of God and trust in His ways with sure knowledge of victory over the evil one.  Since my main spiritual task is to learn to trust in God for everything and to thank Him for His goodness, this psalm helps me a lot.  It’s long, so I will take only one of my favorite verses to speak about, #5:

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to contemplate His temple.

One thing I look forward to about heaven is to “behold the beauty of the Lord”, a beauty that is sure to evoke a feeling of everlasting joy.  In heaven everything will be in place, in peace.  Nothing will be able to trouble us.  But God evidently means for us to start practicing faith and hope in Him in this life, and practicing humble worship of Him in His temple, too.  He is our strength.

I am learning not to struggle against adversity in this life, but rather to face it calmly and ask God what He wants me to learn from it.  Facing temporal and spiritual difficulties with peace of heart and confidence in God is a lifelong exercise of the soul and will. It is an habitual turning toward Christ and laying all things at His feet. As Father Paschal Botz, O.S.B. wrote about this psalm:

Faith and trust are an ever-flowing fountain that leads to eternal life.  If we seek His face in the celebrations around the Altar, Christ can fill our whole lives.  Generally Christians do not know all that the Altar means.  It is God’s special place, the crossroads of two worlds, the rock of ages, where trust grows out of the Sacrifice-Banquet.  There we live anew the Mysteries of Christ in our midst, share His sentiments of trust, become identified with His life-giving vitality. We lose our fears and false self and become truly free of real and phantom enemies.  We must take seriously that He is the Light of the world (Jn. 8:12), that no one goes to the Father except through Him (Jn. 14: 6), which includes His incarnation and sacramental system.  He was consumed with passion for God’s house, which He fulfilled in Himself.

After contemplating this I must often say to myself verse #14:

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

This psalm is prayed every Monday at the hour of Terce in the 1962 Divine Office. Monasteries and convents have it right when they stop everything seven times a day to praise God (eight times if you count getting up at 4:30 to chant Matins).   Because we’re human and very distractable and get agitated over worldly things, setting formal hours throughout the day to recollect ourselves and focus on God builds peace of soul. Holy Mass usually follows Terce in monastic life, and this psalm foretells the sharing in the Holy Eucharist. Gathering around His altar on earth I see the goodness of the Lord (the Holy Eucharist). I am in the land of the living with all others who are living in Him.

Tags: psalms

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 24

June 26, 2010

On Saturdays Jenny at Just A Minute hosts this meme.  Join her to see thoughts other Catholic bloggers have on this psalm and join us if you have a mind to do so.

The Church prays this beautiful psalm on Mondays at the hour of Prime, a fitting beginning for the morning prayers of the week.  We are in procession to Mount Sion, our heaven, walking in the footsteps of Christ on the earthly pilgrimage to paradise. King David and his people sang this psalm at the solemn entry of God’s Ark to Mount Sion.  Its jubilant cry foreshadows the glory of the Risen Christ, our King.

This week I am using the CCD translation from my Short Breviary of 1962, the one used for the Psalms in the Novus Ordo.

David, assisted by Christ, lifts up a door and opens the entrance for Christ to come in, St. Alban's Psalter, 12th century

1  The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it. 2 For He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

From the instant of conception we belong to God as does the entire earth and everything on it and in the heavens above. No amount of declaration of man’s superiority can change the fact that he is creature and God is God, the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving uncreated Being.  Man has been given authority over the earth by God as husbandman, to develop and care for it, but he is dust and to dust he will return.  May I be a good steward, O Lord, over my body, soul, and temporal things until You call me home.

3 Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain, nor swears deceitfully to his neighbor.

God sets four conditions upon us to enter His presence: clean hands, clean heart, a soul that is undivided in its pursuit of the holy, and a tongue that is truthful with our neighbor. God desires an inner moral holiness, not the mere ritual cleansing He set forth in the law to the Israelites.  O Lord, give me a pure heart, clean hands, a truthful tongue, and a thirst for You alone.

5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, a reward from God his savior. 6 Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

Through Christ’s blood, by the ineffable mercy of the Father, we of the Mystical Body of Christ will receive the greatest blessing possible: an eternity of joy in His presence if we seek His face in this life by imitating His Son.  Give me the grace, O Lord, to seek Your face without distraction, and to recognize You when I come upon You.

7 Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in!

God is so great the gates are never high enough yet when we open the door of our hearts to Him, lifting up the portal, He always enters and expands His grace (glory) within us. Keep knocking at the door, O Lord, and take away my deafness, that I may hear Your voice.

8 Who is this king of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.

The Victor over sin and death, Jesus Christ, is the Lord God of Hosts (Armies).  If we acknowledge Him as leader and take our place behind Him, His strength become our strength, His might, our might.  Through Him we join in the victory over the prince of darkness who can have no part in the glory we will all share. Let me serve You valiantly, O King of glory, never losing sight of the final prize.  With the armies of angels, let me sing Your praise.

9 Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in! 10 Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts; He is the king of glory.

All glory, laud and honor to Thee, Redeemer King.

Tags: psalms

Runways to God

May 28, 2010

Today is the Ember Friday after Pentecost.  As I sometimes do when I can’t get to Mass, I read the propers and then turn to Father Paschal Botz, O.S.B.’s book, Runways to God: The Psalms As Prayer(©1980) to understand the Introit psalm better.

Father Paschal was a monk of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota who was heavily involved in the development of the Short Breviary (1962), and whose writings on the liturgy, scripture, and spiritual life are well known from the early liturgical movement in the United States (pre-Vatican II) before it went off the rails.  A dear Benedictine priest gave me this book and I treasure it as the best contemporary commentary on the Psalms I have seen.

Today’s Introit is from Psalm 70 (71), verses 8, 23, 1, 2.  In the Traditional Mass verses and texts were often rearranged for emphasis on the theme of the feast or liturgical season, often with alleluias inserted.  It reads:

Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, alleluia, that I may sing, alleluia; my lips shall rejoice when I shall sing to Thee, alleluia, alleluia.  In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be put to confusion: deliver me in Thy justice, and rescue me.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  Let my mouth…

You might remember the “let me never be put to confusion” from the last line of the great early Christian poem, the Te Deum Laudamus which the Church sings today at major celebrations and on Sundays in the Divine Office. Father Paschal’s commentary on the entire Psalm could not be more relevant for the pro-life issues the sick and elderly face today. Here are some excerpts:

Rock of the Aged

Many a phrase in this Psalm is known to us from other Psalms.  That is as we expect from an elderly author who lived all his life in fidelity to the Lord.  Sheer, unbounded praise alternates with acts of trust, even as the Psalmist repeatedly begs for divine help more insistently with the advancing years. God is his Rock of refuge and strong fortress from the womb to the tomb.  His venerable gray hair, however is also the occasion for new trials, recriminations of accusers, and there is no lack of enemies, those who watch to take advantage of him.  Old age is not serene and quiet, respected for wisdom of experience, but its spent strength changes over to new anxieties.

There are those who pounce on the aged and take advantage of their weakness.  The shadows lengthen with the years, as “many sore troubles” crop up, not least of all from oppressors of the elderly, even the criminally violent.  We think here of the “mercy killers” for whom life is cheap, “cruel men” without humane feelings. While the life span of men and women is growing, so are the enemies who consider advanced age useless.  This is the meaning of verse 7: “I have been as a portent to many,” a sign of evil and an easy target.  Failing health is a sign of age, but the author’s faith grows the stronger.

Hope and trust are the music of the years.  Total dependence on God is the childlikeness of the Gospel.  Trust and confidence is the greatest heritage that old people can pass on to the young. To proclaim God’s deeds, His might and victories to the young is the glory and dignity and sanctity of declining years. The simple fact that God takes good care of those who live by faith is enough.  This is music to the young generation.  The Psalmist speaks of the harp and the lyre, with which the elderly count their blessings “without number” (v. 15).  God is always near and brings new comfort.

We are grateful for this inspired hymn of praise in Israel’s repertoire of prayer, as it rejuvenates old age. Just as the coming of the infant Jesus fulfilled all the hopes of Simeon and Anna (Lk. 2: 22ff., 36ff.), so He does in the Holy Anointing not only of the sick but also of the aged.  He takes over their suffering, their whole lives.  Older people could spend much more time singing the praises of the Lord, cultivating the memory of God in devout recollection. They could be renewed in their comeback from the depths (v.20) and rise above their enemies, they could experience a blessedness that exceeds their wildest dreams of health and strength and security.  Such is the foretaste of the resurrection, for “all generations to come.”

Considering Father Paschal’s comments, good questions to ask are, do I do enough to proclaim God’s might and victories to the young?  Am I setting a good example of faith and trust in God? Do I speak of the blessings God has given me rather than complaining about my woes? Do I include God in all my daily activities – walk with Him in the garden? We can be witnesses to God’s love and mercy until we draw our last breath.

Tags: end-of-life, pro-life, trust in God