Mercies of the Moment

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, October 1st, 2023:
Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm
25 ​

R. Lord, be mindful of your mercy.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. 

R. Lord, be mindful of your mercy.

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. According to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! 

R. Lord, be mindful of your mercy.

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 

R. Lord, be mindful of your mercy.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

​As I examine my heart this day, in the light of the pleas of Psalm 25, it occurs to me how often I elevate myself above God. I lead my life as though outcomes are dependent on me when, in truth, I can do very little to affect them. This past year, we learned my son suffers from an autoimmune disease and it has shifted the way I view God’s mercy. In fact, at one point I seemed to have determined that since it was clear God wasn’t going to do anything about this, I was going to have to take matters into my own hands. I grasped at control over everything from the diagnosis to the medications prescribed to what my son ate and who he hung out with – until, very predictably, I became discouraged and so very lost. I was lost in trying to sort out the ending to the story – mine, my son’s, and the stories of others I love. In doing so, I removed myself from the mercies of the moment. This is what Saint Thérèse’s life teaches me on this, her feast day: God’s mercies are in every moment. 

​​“God does not call those who are worthy, but those whom He will. As Saint Paul says, ‘God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.’” -Saint Thérèse

It would seem I had a deep-seated belief that God deemed me, and by association my son, as unworthy of His mercy. But if this were true, was Saint Thérèse also unworthy? Her untimely death from tuberculosis at the age of 24 would suggest so. Yet she herself would disagree with this line of thinking. Thérèse, in her limitless wisdom, once said, “In order to become a saint, one must suffer much, always seek the most perfect path, and forget oneself.”

This is where I had gone astray. Rather than accept the path of suffering, I fought it. Rather than seeking the most perfect path, I condemned God, the doctors and, mostly, myself. Rather than forgetting myself, I was consumed by the hardships that were upon me due to this abrupt redirect in our lives. I could not see the mercies of the moment because my mind was racing to the places only God was meant to see.

The psalmist for this reading pleads with God to be mindful of His mercy. The irony is that it is through my own mindfulness that God’s mercies may be perceived. And what is mindfulness, but prayer? For what is it that we are being mindful of when we pause and contemplate what is steadfast, immovable, true, and good? It is the Lord, ever mindful in His very being, ever present to us whenever we are present to Him. So today I aim to be present to Him in moment-by-moment prayer. Prayer is a gift for the humble of heart and I am grateful that the Lord used this psalm to humble me enough to receive it.

Saint Thérèse, most humble of heart, pray for us. 




Lori MacDonald

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