Nothing Ordinary About This Time

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, January 12th, 2025:
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

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Psalm 104

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honour and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent. 

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

You set the beams of your dwelling place on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind, you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers. 

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. 

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

Living things all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth. 

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

This Sunday the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which marks the beginning of Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar. It is called “ordinary” from the Latin ordinalis, which refers to the numbers in a series and has nothing to do with being “ordinary” in the mundane sense of the word. 

Our Psalm today does an amazing job of reminding us of how “un-ordinary” our God truly is! The psalmist celebrates the awesomeness of God, His creation, His power and greatness. We recall the work of God in the living beings He created and how, without Him, we are nothing. He gifts us with the breath of life, and when He takes that breath back we return to dust. This isn’t morbid or sad – it is awesome! As Christians we believe that this life is temporary and passing, and we are called to eternal life so that the last breath each of us takes in this world is the beginning of a new time in the next world. 

Before all that, in this earthly life that God gives us freely, He renews and blesses us: “When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.” No other being has this power and authority. God freely uses it so that we may rejoice in Him and may walk in faith knowing and experiencing our God as a One of power and might!

It is easy to forget the awesomeness of God and to get distracted by the negative, the evil, and the sin of the world, but all of that is passing because of the awesomeness of God. God is doing great things at all times, and I need to see beyond the negative and remember to seek out the neverending works of God in my daily life! 

Let’s give thanks for the breath He gives us, the beauty He surrounds us with, and the glory He calls us to witness every day.

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Sr. Teresa MacDonald

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