Sing to the Lord a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the Lord loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches.
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia. (PS 149:1b-2,3-4,5-6a and 9b)
The scriptures have been getting rather “heavy” the past several days as the Church prepares for the celebration of the Ascension. During this time, we have been reading about Jesus preparing His followers for the fact that He would be leaving them — this time, for good. As you can well imagine, this did not sit well with many of His followers.
Too many questions were raised: What is going to happen to us? Who do we call if we need help? Where are you going? Will we see you again? How can we go where you are going?
The questions posed by the followers of Jesus back then are not so different from the questions posed today? We search for many answers in our lives. We wonder what will become of us, why some things do not appear to make any sense, and to whom can we turn for help.
The answer, of course, is quite easy: Jesus. Jesus is there. He always has been and always will be. When we are down or confused or lonely or frightened, we might have more difficulty experiencing Him.
That does not mean that He is any less present. It might just mean that we have taken our eyes off of Him, that we are not thinking about Him as much, or that we have quit communicating (praying) with Him.
If we look for consolation, perhaps we should look to the responsorial psalm for today’s Mass. The psalm, as well as the refrain, says it all: “The Lord takes delight in His people.” What a source of comfort that is!
FAITH ACTION: Carve out some time today to be totally silent. Remind yourself that the Lord takes delight in you. In that thought, make sure you let the Lord know how much delight you take in Him.