Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

​Recently, I have been praying a lot with how great our God is. Not only is He kind and merciful, like today's psalm proclaims, but He is also a faithful God who keeps His promises. Only, so often, we pray and then continue on our way and forget the many gifts and blessings that God has given to us. 

Last week I was able to see 150 small children attend Mass together as part of a summer camp. The most beautiful thing was the sound of them singing and praising the Lord. Their voices were a reminder of all that God has done for me and the many ways He has kept His promises (even when I have failed Him). 

As they were singing I was reflecting on how my life has changed from a year ago during the same summer camp. Much has stayed the same, but I have changed. I have seen the way that God loves me through the Eucharist. I have seen the way that God has answered years of prayer. I reflected on how by following God's plan He has exceeded all of my expectations. I have put my trust in God, and He has come through 1000 times. As they were singing after communion, I was moved to tears knowing how God has taken care of me. 

As I listened to the children sing, I saw the beautiful way God is moving and active in my life. It took the faith of children to see it. My prayer is that I can embrace that childlike faith. That I can live each day seeing the many blessings I have received and that I can know that God is active in my life. I pray the same for you. 

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

​How has my life changed in the past year?

How has the Lord taken care of me?

Where have I witnessed the Lord's greatness?

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.
​
"You are good."

"You never fail."

​"You take care of me."

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with the Lord bear fruit in you today?
​
Strive for a more childlike faith, and let your praises ring out to the Lord with abandon.

​“Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.”

How do you feel after reading this psalm? Did it touch your heart in a particular way? Perhaps you read the psalmists words and say, “that’s me”. Perhaps you read it and said, “that was me a few months ago”. The reality is that each of us has a moment in our lives that we can look back on and feel similarly to the psalmist as he cries out to the Lord. We’ve all been sunk in the abysmal swamp, feeling no foothold to help draw ourselves out of it. We’ve been overwhelmed by the floods of suffering and evil at some point and felt like we have no way out. We’ve been afflicted and felt real pain in life in one way or another and that’s what makes this such a universal reading. 

Suffering is real and there is no hiding from it, even if we feel like we can run away quickly enough to avoid whatever life slings at us time and again. But today, the Lord is speaking comfort and consolation to your heart and mine. I don’t mean to minimize suffering in saying that we all experience it or that we all get through it stronger and holier. The truth is, we often leave our sufferings broken, battered, and doubtful of God’s goodness or ability to care for us. But today, the Lord desires to speak comfort and consolation that go beyond any human words or exhortation.

The Lord hears the poor and he protects those who love him. If you truly turn to the Lord, in any circumstance, he will hear you and he will rescue you. The reflection I had with this psalm wasn’t focused on how it will all work out or in comparing my blind trust and faith in God’s goodness with the psalmist. If you read this psalm you’ll see that it doesn’t say, “I was afflicted and God answered me, so now my life is great- praise God”. This psalm is a pleading and a petition for God’s help, followed by trustworthy praise. There is no guarantee that God will alleviate every pain and every suffering right when we ask him. There is no sure way to speak the right words so God will pull you out of the swamp and live happily ever after right then and there. We’ve all experienced moments where we seek God for help and we feel as if we’ve been left alone or abandoned in the midst of the flood, even if just for a time. But nevertheless, God is moving and working to protect us and draw us into his love. 

Today God is calling us to trust in his goodness- the goodness revealed to us as Christ hung upon the cross. The goodness of God may not be felt immediately and our suffering may not end with just one prayer, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have faith that God is still working for our good. Trust in that goodness, make your petitions known to God, and praise him in the meantime. God will always answer when you turn to him in your need and he will draw you into his Divine Life. 

How are you experiencing suffering in your life right now?

What makes it difficult to trust that God is working to save you and protect you?

In what ways has God been testing your faith? How can you grow in that faith?

"Jesus, I trust in you."

"Increase my faith."

​"Help me unite my sufferings to you."

Write your own version of today's psalm: put words to how you're suffering right now, be honest with how you feel, and follow that with a prayer of praise. Let God know that you trust in him, however hard it may be to do so in your present circumstance!

Shalom! Peace! 

We all hope and pray for many things, and I think one of the biggest prayer requests of people is to have more peace. In general, humanity wants nothing more than to experience greater peace in so many different areas: the world, our families, at school, in sporting events, on social media, and of course in our spiritual lives. We all desire peace! The reality is that a lasting peace is only found in God. 

As Jesus speaks to His Apostles in today’s Gospel, he makes apparent that His presence in the world and the message He brings to the world, has some people embracing it and others rejecting it. So what do we do?

Let’s not get vicious and fight with people - this won’t solve anything. A great invitation in this Gospel passage is that in the midst of various divisions, we all need to seek more conversation and dialogue with family, friends, strangers, politicians, and leaders in whom we hold disagreements. We are often set apart by beliefs, but as disciples of Jesus let’s not take the easy way out by saying, “Let’s agree to disagree.” No, let’s embrace the opportunity for dialogue. 

Who is someone that you have disagreement with? Pray for them, but also pray that your heart may be opened to listen to them and talk about bringing more peace and reconciliation to the relationship.
​
Shalom! Peace!

What is an area of your life that you need to ask God for peace? 

Who in your life do you need to have peace with? How can you go about reconciliation?

Who is someone in your life you need to pray for?  

Who is someone in your life you disagree with? Pray for them today. Who is someone you see online but not in real-life you disagree with, pray for them today. Who is someone you don't know at all that you disagree with, pray for them today.

Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.

Some weeks just seem to drag on and on and on. Those weeks there aren’t enough snooze buttons in the world to help me catch up on rest. You roll out of bed, stumble through the morning, hope against hope that no one tries to talk to you before noon. Maybe you sit through class, or go to work and there are some solid people there but you're just not feeling it today. People might ask what they can do to help; there doesn’t seem to be anything you need really it’s just a bleh week…

Is that truly living? 

When the Lord speaks about life, it doesn’t seem like the burden that sometimes it can feel like day to day. The Lord’s life is one of fullness; the freedom in knowing you aren’t alone, the hope that there’s more to life than mediocrity and let downs, and the courage to share who we truly are. The sweetness of life that the Lord speaks about is possible, we but must turn to Him in our need. 

Your problems aren’t ‘too small’ for the Lord to care. Your problems aren’t ‘too big’ for the Lord to be able to help. It isn’t strength to carry more than what is healthy on our own. It isn’t weakness to admit it’s heavy. Even if the last countless days have been rough, that doesn’t mean today has to be the same. The Lord sees you right where you are, and He loves you. 

Turn to the Lord. He will breathe life into even the most lifeless of days because that is who He is. He can rebuild each of our lives to be made more like the heavenly kingdom; our ultimate home. It takes time to fully turn to the Lord in our frailty, but we are united as this community of believers. Let’s pray for one another, that we might have the confidence to bring the Lord all that we are and all that we do, that we might live life to the full. 

Are there still parts of your life that don’t seem like they have or can be touched by the Lord? If so, what are they?

How can you give the tough days to the Lord so He can make them holy?

​How can you bring the love of God to others who may be having a tough day today?

"Here I am Lord."

"Jesus, I trust in you."

"Come Holy Spirit."

Pray about what you are still holding back from God and find a way to give it back to Him in a new way today.