Psalm 3
All: LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”
But you, LORD, are a shield around me,
My glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the LORD,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands
Assail me on every side.
Arise, LORD!
Deliver me, my God!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
Break the teeth of the wicked.
From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Meditation
From Surviving Depression: A Catholic Approach by Sr. Kathryn Hermes, FSP
Blessed Charles de
Foucauld, once a restless adventurer, found his heart’s desire in a simple life
of presence among the Muslim people in the Sahara Desert. He wrote a meditation
on Psalm 3: “It seems as though there is a great abyss between us, and that you
look on us with severity. We wonder where we are and where we are going, and it
seems as though we are sinking in quicksand, unable to free ourselves. But, my
God, you are so good! You call to us, ‘Find yourself in me,’ and you throw us a
solid anchor.
God knows you just as you are, with your history, your fears,
your needs, and your tears. God loves you just as you are. God is the one who
loves you most, with your garbage, your limitations, and your problems, as well
as the beauty you may not be able to see. God is walking toward you, arms
outstretched, to help you find meaning in everything. Let God impress you with
his love. Even if you feel nothing when you read about God’s love, say to God:
“I believe, even though I cannot see.” One day you will no longer need to
believe, because you will see.
Song: Open Thou Mine Eyes by the Cambridge Singers
Scripture (1 Corinthians)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his
light shine in our hearts to give us the light of knowledge of God’s glory
displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to
show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard
pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry
around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be
revealed in our body. . . Therefore we do not lose heart. . . For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
them all. So we fix our eyes not one what is seen, but on what is unseen, since
what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
The Word of the Lord.
ALL: Thanks be to God
Sign of the Cross
