The Apple of God’s Eye

A Reflection on the Psalm for November 6th, 2022:
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm 17

R. I shall be satisfied, Lord, when I awake and behold Your likeness.

Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. 

R. I shall be satisfied, Lord, when I awake and behold Your likeness.

My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words.

R. I shall be satisfied, Lord, when I awake and behold Your likeness.

Guard me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

R. I shall be satisfied, Lord, when I awake and behold Your likeness.

I’ve always quite liked apples. Honeycrisp apples are my favourites, although some of my
sisters claim that Gala apples are better, and one likes only Granny Smiths. We have
some fairly strong apple opinions in our household.

But what does it mean when, in the psalm for this Sunday, we pray that God will keep us
as the apple of His eye? It’s an expression that had its time and has now mostly fallen out
of use but, if someone is the “apple of your eye,” it means that they’re very important to
you, precious, loved. It means that the image of this loved one can be found in your eyes
because you gaze upon them, your attention is fixed on them.

It strikes me as bold and beautiful to ask God to keep us as the apple of His eye, to
assume that He has the time and the inclination to focus on me, on you, on each of us as
the centre of His attention. And yet, we know that this is the truth, that each of us is held in
existence because God gazes upon us with tender love. I have done nothing and can do
nothing to deserve this attention, but He gives it to me nonetheless.

Sometimes this thought causes me embarrassment. God is watching even when I might
not want Him to, when I wish I could hide from Him. Sometimes it causes me anguish. God
is watching even when bad things happen and I get angry that He has not intervened. And
sometimes it causes me joy. God is watching when I praise Him, when I do what I am
called to do, when I am authentically myself. My very image dances in His eyes and, as He
looks upon me, upon each of us, He finds us to be “very good.”



Sr. Gemma MacLeod

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