Good, Good Father

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, August 25th, 2024:
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm 34
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 R. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 

R. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 

R. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. 

R. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous one, but the Lord rescues him from them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them will be broken. 

R. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. 

​R. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous one, but the Lord rescues him from them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them will be broken.”

Parenting wisely is a bit of an art. I find I oscillate between wanting to do for and give to my children, while at the same time wanting to allow an appropriate amount of responsibility and challenge in their lives. 

My eldest, for example, is a competitive paddler. A year after he got into the sport, he wanted his own boat. I was apt to purchase one for him, but my husband wisely felt otherwise. In the end, my son paid for his boat – not a small endeavour for a teen his age, but not completely undoable. His boat isn’t shiny and new, and he felt the pinch. Even so, he’s proud of his new-to-him boat, even if he does look longingly at some of his teammates’ newer ones.

As a parent, it's easy to see the fruit this bears. We want good for our children; our decisions are rooted in love. Despite being able to give a child what they wish, we sometimes withhold momentarily, offer something different, or ask for some commitment on the part of our child. We do this because we like what the challenge develops in them – virtues or positive characteristics, like perseverance, sacrifice, humility, gratitude, or agency, that we mightn’t have seen in them otherwise.

We are God’s children, and God is a good and wise Father. However, when what we want is not delivered how we would see fit, it can be very hard to see God as the wonderful parent He is and observe the good things He is trying to produce in us. Some of life’s difficulties are much higher stakes than buying a boat as a teenager. Some are downright heartbreaking, a consequence of a broken world. 

Having engaged in some challenges over the last few years, I can testify that adversity travelled with God produces fruit in ways that always living comfortably cannot. I can also attest, as Psalm 33 says, that although the spirit of the just may be crushed, not one of their bones will be broken. 

I don’t possess the wisdom of God to tell you what He's up to in the small or big mountains in your life. But I know God doesn’t leave us alone in distress. By design, He often wisely uses challenges to teach us to rise up to some beautiful vistas with Him. Trials can provide the right climate where both trust and virtue can develop, in ourselves and in those around us. When we've finally reached that hard-earned mountain top, we begin to see beautiful things we would never have experienced without the effort of the climb.

God’s goal is not to give us whatever we want so we are comfortable in this life (although isn’t it delightful when He does on occasion!). God wants our best, and that may mean He allows some occasional or inevitable challenges. I promise He knows exactly when to intervene with grace to produce the best fruit and keep us going. So although by nature I often reach for comfort, I realize my deeper and truer desire is actually for a virtuous and meaningful life with God, both here and in eternity.




Michelynne Gomez

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