Spirituality for Beginners

Fr. Bede's almost-daily reflections. When it comes to the spiritual life, we're all beginners. I also send these out by email. Contact me at bcamera@anselm.edu. God bless!





Tuesday, June 21, 2016

God's action in YOUR life

From time to time, we have been studying the psalms to gain a greater appreciation of how God loves us and cares for us. Today’s focus is on Psalm 37, which is one of my favorites.

I remember the time in my life when I was just beginning to think about religious life or priesthood. As I began thinking that way, I had to do battle with all sorts of discouraging thoughts—about my unworthiness, about all the obstacles that had to be overcome, about what would I do about my career, my home, and so on. One day when I was in New York I entered St. Bartholomew’s Church in Park Avenue and sat down to pray. I opened my bible and my eyes fell upon the words of Psalm 37 and it seemed like the Lord was speaking directly to me and cutting through all the fog of worries and concerns that preoccupied me so much. Here is what I read:

If you trust in the Lord and do good,
then you will live in the land and be secure.
If you find your delight in the Lord,
he will grant your heart’s desire.

Commit your life to the Lord,
trust in him and he will act.  (!!!!!) (Psalm 37, vv 3-5)

The message was so clear, especially the last verse. It kept going through my mind: He will act!
I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, I didn’t know anything other than the promise of this verse. And do you know what? It all came true, sometimes in ways now consider to be miraculous.

I’ll leave you with that today. Memorize these verses. It’s good to have them close to your heart.

There is a lot more to be discovered in this psalm. We’ll save that for another time.


God bless you!

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