A Reflection on The Psalm for June 17, 2018: Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Responsorial Psalm PS 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16

R. (cf. 2a) Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
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It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,
To proclaim your kindness at dawn
and your faithfulness throughout the night.

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

They shall bear fruit even in old age;
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
Declaring how just is the LORD,
my rock, in whom there is no wrong.

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

The sadness finally snuck up and found me as I emptied the dishwasher.  I’d kept very busy for the last while.  All the activity wasn’t really a sufficient guard. Taking that picture of them, seeing a last of something, seemed to tip the balance. My son and his friends around a campfire in our backyard.  Somehow looking at the event as a still image on my phone, finally lets me look at the fact that he’s moving out to another city the next day.

It’s not a big sorrow.  I didn’t even know it was one.  I’ve been so excited for him all along. And I’ve been through far greater sorrows, incredible ones, but I can’t seem to remember at the moment how I made it through to joy then; I just know I got there. So I ask my Father, ‘How?’ 

Gratitude.  That was how I had made it through. 

St. Paul told some folks in Thessalonica…
Rejoice always,
pray constantly,
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 RSV-Catholic

I find it hard to start with joy.  Sometimes things have even hurt too much to pray.  But if I start at the third of St. Paul’s instructions, be thankful, I can make it through to praying, and to joy.

There is an incredible power in gratitude.  It is the heartbeat of the refrain in Psalm 92 for a reason. It changes things.  Things seen and unseen.  It makes changes in us that will outlast the sun.

The psalmist lets us know that giving thanks is the right thing to do at dawn and through the night.  When light is beginning to rule; when darkness is king.  When life is all that we hope; when life bowls us over and tries to plough us under.  All the time.

He sings of the connection between thankfulness and flourishing like a mighty tree.  All these images of life, newness, growth, flowering and fruiting continuously throughout our lives.  I have seen bitterness cause stunted, warped growth in the long lives of people I love. Being thankful is an inoculant against this disease.  It may start as words of thanks, but when by the Spirit of God in us, it turns into a heart of gratitude, then bitterness and accusation and any number of things are simply pushed out of the way.  Bitterness cannot coexist with gratitude.  Sorrow can, though. However, gratitude transforms it from a hurtful sorrow to a healing sorrow.  That was the reminder I needed in the kitchen.  

And I find again, like the psalmist, it is a complete wonder that gratitude plants us firmly in God’s house, abiding in His very presence.  As I offer up thanks, He shifts things inside me, and meets me.  And there, indeed, is joy.

Let us take with gratitude the chance we are offered this day; respond as a community, and proclaim together in song, ‘Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.’

​Noreen Smith

"There is an incredible power in gratitude. It makes changes in us that will outlast the sun." - Noreen Smith (Ora Reflections)