You Are My Children

A Reflection on the Psalm for June 12th, 2022
​The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

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Psalm 8

R. O Lord, our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, 
the moon and the stars that you have established; 
what is a man that you are mindful of him, 
or the son of man that you care for him? 

R. O Lord, our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Yet you have made him a little lower than the Angels, 
and crowned him with glory and honour. 
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; 
you have put all things under his feet. 

R. O Lord, our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

All sheep and oxen, 
and also the beasts of the field, 
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, 
whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 

R. O Lord, our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

I really relate to how the psalmist, while looking at the wonder of creation, feels called to reflect both on God’s glory and on his own identity. This heart-piercing encounter with beauty is one that likely resonates with most people. Perhaps it happened while visiting the ocean for the first time, hiking up incredibly high mountains with an awesome view, or witnessing northern lights dance across a night sky. I can think of several moments where all I could do was stand still, entranced, and marvel at how amazing God is, given that His creation is only a small reflection of Him. The vastness of the earth, sea, skies and universe can easily cause us to look back at ourselves and recognize our littleness. We are so, so small! So, why would God remember, recall or be “mindful” of us?


When I held this question in my own heart, after a time of silence I heard the words, “You are my children.” Being a child of God is a concept that I’ve known throughout my Christian upbringing, but it is a different thing to consider this reality in the context of daily living and to act in ways that reflect this truth. I am still learning to fully embrace this identity and to consider what it means to call God my Father. The psalmist likely had less knowledge of God’s desire for this relationship because it is fully revealed much later when Jesus made it known to us. 


Christ reveals and gives us access to God the Father’s heart, and through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection we learn that the Father desires the deepest intimacy with us. God welcomes us to participate in the Love of the Trinity, and this invitation is different from any other living or created thing. We are part of God’s family by some mystery of His initiative of love and mercy. Most of the time we are blind to His glory residing in us, in even greater abundance than in nature but, as we draw nearer to Him, Jesus’ light reveals it in our brothers, sisters and ourselves. 


Holy Spirit, please restore our sense of awe and heal the eyes of our hearts, so that we might behold one another and see how and why You regard us as Your beloved children. Help us see in one another Your beauty, even more than we see it in the moon and stars.



Kendra L.
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