I remember about a year or so ago, reading Psalm 116 and actually paying attention to the words and thinking, "That's me!" So now every time I read it, as I did this week, it gets my attention.
I love the Lord for he has heard the cry of my appeal;
for he turned his ear to me in the day when I called him.
(Yep, I called him one day, and he heard me. It goes on....)
How gracious is the Lord, and just;
(Yeah, people forget about the "just" part; I wonder if they think God is just a big ol' cream puff.)
our God has compassion.
(Lucky for us.)
The Lord protects the simple hearts.
I was helpless so he saved me.
(It just sounds so simple and matter of fact. I was helpless, so he saved me. Just like that, because he didn't have anything better to do. Or because it is his nature to save us from ourselves and the stupid things we do because we [think we] know better than God.)
One morning at Mass, Father mentioned why we attend daily Mass. I think it might have been Friday when he highlighted the verse: that they might be with him (Mark 3:14) Not because it is something "nice" to do for God . But because we are called in the depths of our being to be "with" him, and we have the good sense to say "yes". And I thought to myself, "He gets it." Over the years, I have had people act like I am either slightly crazy or real holy to go to daily Mass at any opportunity, and my dear husband who periodically suggests that "God won't be mad" if I just skip a day. While the "crazy" part might be accurate, they mostly don't understand that it is not me that is doing something special, but the fact that I *am* drawn there. Since the first morning during Lent 4 or 5 years ago when I got up early to go, I have felt that magnetic pull. There is a thirst.
Went to Mass yesterday with Kid #2 and this morning with dear hubby and Kid #1. I don't know when the habit of going to 2 "Sunday" Masses started, but I would often take the kids on Saturday evening, because they often had to serve, and then hubby (who likes the less crowded 8:30 a.m. Mass) would go by himself on Sunday because the kids enjoy sleeping late on the weekend. And I thought it was a bit ironic that some weeks the only day that I didn't go to Mass was Sunday. Anyway, I usually find the homilies worth listening to, and sometimes it takes hearing it twice to let it sink in, so there is nothing heroic in "going twice" though I don't go around publicizing the fact because some people look at me like I have 4 heads..
The homily yesterday was almost like a prayer. Mentioning that God DOES expect a lot from us. And he has a right to because he has given us everything. As Father made his way through Luke 4:14-21, "proclaiming liberty to captives" (setting us free from the stupid things that hold us captive), "bringing sight to the blind" (helping us to see things in our lives that we are blind to), "letting the oppressed go free" (freeing us from things like unhealthy guilt), and "proclaiming a year acceptable to the Lord" (where all debts were canceled, and how he canceled all of our debts by his suffering, dying and rising) it was almost like a prayer. Rejoicing in the Lord must be our strength (Neh 8:10). God IS with us. He comes to us at every Mass. Thus, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in our hearing."
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