Reaching Back to Me

A Reflection on the Psalm ​for Sunday, September 8th, 2024:
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm 146

R. Praise the Lord, O my soul!
or 
R. Alleluia!

It is the Lord who keeps faith forever, executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free. 

R. Praise the Lord, O my soul!
or 
R. Alleluia!

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind and lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous and watches over the strangers. 

R. Praise the Lord, O my soul!
or 
R. Alleluia!

The Lord upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.

R. Praise the Lord, O my soul!
or 
R. Alleluia!

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

I took a course recently that taught us to draw genograms: a visual depiction of the nature of the interrelationships of multiple generations of a family. Mine was messy. There was relational dysfunction everywhere – generation upon generation. But what stood out to me was the value of loyalty that has been passed down for many generations. In my direct lineage, there has never been a divorce. The marriages were not perfect, but they held to their promise to uphold their loyalty to one another. While they were faithful to their promise to remain married, were they also faithful to the remaining promises of their wedding vows? I’m not interested in outing anyone here, especially since my life has been far from perfect (as a single mother who has never been married). I am, however, moving toward a point: faithfulness and loyalty are not the same thing, though they are often used interchangeably. 

Taking a deep dive into these two virtues, it seems to me that loyalty is a response to previous experiences. I am loyal to my employer because they pay me. My dog is (mostly) loyal to me because I feed and walk him. However, I am not faithful to my employer because faithfulness involves a sense of completeness; to be faithful in the larger things, as in fidelity to my contracted role, as well as the smaller things, as in promptness. My dog is also unfaithful because his loyalty will shift to the next person who is willing to throw a ball for him. It hurts me to say it, but it’s true. 

Missioner and presbyter William Grimm says it best, “Loyalty grows out of the past; faithfulness reaches back to us out of the future.” Who is in the future other than God Himself? 

Though I am called to grow in this virtue, I believe I do so by acknowledging the steadfastness of Him who has been before I arrived; in my yesterdays and my tomorrows. By noticing Him who waits for me to step into the place He has long been preparing. By thanking Him who sits faithfully with me in the still uncertainty of the unknown. In my humanness, I can be loyal to Him because He is faithful to me, and I still grow in faithfulness by allowing Faithfulness to sink deep within me. 

As was depicted in my family genogram, my capacity for faithfulness is limited because my mind and heart can be a messy place. My mess obstructs my ability to allow His faithfulness in. I can act as though we are strangers at times, but He always operates out of a disposition of togetherness, a familial fatherliness, an unconditional lovingness. He is inseparably tethered to me as His creation, made in His image and likeness, and may I spend my life praising Him for it.

“It is the Lord who keeps faith forever…” 
God alone is faithful.




Lori MacDonald

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