Look To Him

I woke up feeling moody and grouchy this morning, both tired and discouraged immediately upon arising before I even began my day. I didn't have the energy to fight off the ugliness and I was quickly caving into gloom.

I lector at daily Mass three days each week and today was one of them. As I approach the ambo I usually whisper a prayer to the Holy Spirit asking Him to speak through me and allow everyone present in church to be moved by the words of scripture as I proclaim them. But today I only muttered a half-hearted prayer to Jesus as I bowed to His presence in the tabernacle asking, "Please, help me get through this."

The readings were so beautiful on this Feast of St. Martha and despite my lack of fervor in prayer, I quickly felt the love of the Lord through the words I was reading. Who couldn't feel His love when reading 1 John 4:7-16, this beautiful passage about the love of God? But although I could sense His love, I was still distracted by my emotions and I lost my place which resulted in me reading verse eight twice: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." My mistake brought about the heat of an embarrassed blush quickly rising in my face.

By the time I came to the psalm, however, my embarrassment proved to be unfounded, for there I was reading my favorite scripture passage from Psalm 34: "Look to Him, that you may be radiant with joy and your faces may not blush with shame."

God's timing is amazing, is it not? Despite my negativity and my half-hearted attempt to proclaim His word, He would not allow me to forget His great love for me and maybe it was His doing after all, that caused me to repeat verse eight today. I think He had a message in that passage that He wanted to drive home to me; He wanted me to know that in my contrariness I was failing to love, failing to look to Him and know Him.

Through His amazing providence and His perfect love, all shame and embarrassment is cast out, all moodiness, fear and hate are gone. I will always look to Him and know that

God is love!

Praying the Psalms-Fifteen

"Lord, who may go and find refuge and shelter in your tabernacle up on your holy hill?"

Golden case behind the altar
holding the body of my Lord
Reverenced with bent knee,
bent head, bent elbow crossing self

Out of the reach of my hands
but never out of reach of my soul
for it flies to the tabernacle
and loses itself in Jesus

Oh to stay here in this holy place
to forget myself and my life
to live only for you
with prayers and adoration
at every moment

It is my greatest joy
to carry You within myself

to know that although your tabernacle
may be out of my reach
your love is always near
as close as the next beat of my heart
and the next breath from my lungs

You live within me
I am Your tabernacle
and one day
I will join You on your holy hill
for all eternity

Join Jenny at Just a Minute in Praying the Psalms

Praying the Psalms-Fourteen

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Will evildoers never learn-those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on the Lord? There they are overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous. You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! Psalm 14

Lord, I know that you see directly into my heart and your timeless words reflect how I feel. Today, my worries are many about evil and corruption in my beloved Church and toward my beloved Church…Your beloved Church.

There are many whose hearts are true and repentant, but those whose hearts are cold are cruel are also many and they inflict their arrogant opinions and hateful words upon others without concern for the hurt they cause. Their only concern is to make themselves into gods instead of worshiping and loving You, the only one, true God.

Today my son asked me why some people think that abortion is ok. I had no answer. But God, if we could all see the evil in abortion, if we could all see the evil in all sinful actions, what a blessed and beautiful world this would be. I pray for those who don't care about You and Your laws. I pray for those who don't love You with their whole heart. I pray for those who don't believe in Your true presence in the Eucharist and for those who don't believe in Your true presence in others. I pray for those who hurt You and the people You love with hateful words and hateful actions. And, I pray for myself because so often I am the one in need of those prayers, I am the one who fails to love and to care; I am the one who allows my heart to be filled with hate and hurt.

Change the evildoers’ hearts, Lord. Change my heart. Draw us back to You and Your loving Sacred Heart. Hold us all close to You and Your goodness so that we may rejoice and be glad as one. Amen.

Join Jenny at Just A Minute in Praying the Psalms

Praying the Psalms-Thirteen

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will me enemy triumph over me?” Psalm 13: 1-2

I recognize these words far too well, for they were my daily winter cry. In the gloom of dark days and the chill of blustery winds, my soul, too, grew dark and cold. The Lord seemed to be lost in the dark of the season and I could not find the face of God. My thoughts of despair and emptiness were hard to pin down, try as I might to overtake them with prayers of joy and hope.

“Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
My enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him, and my foes will rejoice when I fall.” Psalm 13:3-4

And suddenly, the Lord’s face shone brightly upon my darkness, giving that much needed light to my eyes. Spring is here, and the sun is shining bright and warm. I can see that the Lord loves me and He will not let my enemy have the last word. I will stand victorious in the light of day, with a calm and serene mind that has cast out the racing thoughts of doom that worked for control of my mind.

“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” Psalm 13:5-6

The Lord heard my prayer and in His great love for me I will forever rejoice. Alleluia!

Join Jenny at Just a Minute to pray the psalms

Praying the Psalms-Eleven

"In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: "Flee like a bird to your mountain."

So often I am tempted to run away, escape from my problems and worries. I try to distract myself by pouring my energies into work or meaningless activities like watching television. But these are only temporary bandages to cover up the problems and help me to forget about my worries for a short time. Fleeing like a bird doesn't work because sooner or later the mountain begins to crumble around me and my problems become larger than ever.

The only solution to difficulties in life is to hand them over to the Lord, to bury my heart and soul in prayer. The Lord will hold me and protect me until the storm has passed and my problems are solved. He will love me, care for me and protect me. In the Lord I take refuge, today and always. I will stand firm and will not flee.

Today my prayers go out in a special way to all of those in the Church who are suffering because of the horrific scandal of priestly abuse towards children. This means that my prayers go out to everyone in the Church, because whenever one of our members suffers a tragedy in any way, we all suffer. Let us all take refuge in the Lord who loves each and every one of us and will protect us until the storm has passed.

Join Jenny at Just a Minute to Pray the Psalms each Saturday.

Praying the Psalms-Nine/ Praise

"I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous deeds. I will delight and rejoice in you; I will sing hymns to your name, Most High. Psalm 9:2-3

















Are you listening Lord? I said with ALL of my heart. I didn't mean just some dusty little corner that wasn't already filled with praise for other things like peanut butter cookies with chocolate on top, spring daffodils, piano music or childrens laughter. The only reason I will praise those other things is because they are all gifts from you, so when I praise the delights of this earth, when I am rejoicing in the pleasures I find here in my life, what I am really doing is declaring Your wondrous deeds.

Sometimes, though, my heart forgets. Isn't that sad? I hope it doesn't make You terribly unhappy that I forget to praise You, and that I take Your gifts for granted. You know I never mean to hurt You. What can I do, my glorious Father, to atone for my all too frequent ingratitude? If I sing hymns to Your name, will that please You? If I sing so that all my words and actions bless You and give You glory,and in doing so, I draw others to notice You and love You, will Your own heart sing for joy?

Then I will sing, just listen to my voice grow louder with a sweet melody for You. For You alone are wondrous, marvelous, fabulous and amazing. You are my maker, my lover, my father and my friend. You are my yesterday, today and tomorrow. You love me like no other ever could and I will love You in return, all my days. I will give You my heart and my soul, all that I am and all that I ever will be, in gratitude for the love You have bestowed upon me...simple, little, next-to-nothing me. In Your eyes, with Your love, I too, am wondrous, marvelous, fabulous and amazing. For You, and to You, I sing praise! Amen and Amen, forever.

Thanks to Jenny at Just a Minute for the Praying the Psalms MEME and to
Jennifer at My Chocolate Heart for the Praise MEME