Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin
“Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.”
“O LORD, you have probed me, and you know me; you know when I sit and when I stand.”
Today’s responsorial psalm has an important lesson in store for us. God knows us and desires to pour his love upon us. Today’s psalm reminds us, “O LORD, you have probed me, and you know me.” God, who fashioned us in the womb, knows us better than we could know ourselves. We believe in self-knowledge, and this is not bad. However, self-knowledge becomes dangerous when it leads us to rely on ourselves instead of God.
The psalmist reminds us that God knows us better than we do ourselves, and knows what is best for us. Even more, God wants to give us better gifts than we could give to ourselves! “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Mt. 7:11). God the Father knows what we need and wants to give us what we need. Yet, how often do we enter prayer with this inner disposition, this disposition that God knows what we need before we ask him. “And even before you call upon me, I will say to you: Here I am.” (Rule of St. Benedict, quoting Isa 58:9) If we pray with this trust that God will give us everything we need, we will lead more peaceful, joyful, and charitable lives.
Reflection by Eric, seminarian
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections