For the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time…
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory…
Psalm 63:3
I pray the Morning Prayer, Lauds, from the Liturgy of the Hours, most mornings alongside my husband. Psalm 63 is a fixture in Week 1 of the Psalter. It’s also one of the psalms we’ve nicknamed as the “happy psalms” for it is often prayed on major feast days and repeatedly so during octaves in the Church year. It has become one of my favorite psalms. I invite you to sit with this psalm in its entirety sometime soon and taste its richness. But for now, I’ll just offer a thought about beauty of the verse above.
Verse 3 often reminds me of elevation of the Eucharist during each Mass, a unique moment in time whereby heaven and earth meet. The power and the glory of God inhabit what was once bread, for after consecration the host becomes the Body and Blood of the Jesus.
It also illustrates my own experience I’ve found in quiet moments before the monstrance in the Adoration Chapel at our parish. It is there I see “him”, Jesus, as I gaze upon the Blessed Sacrament.
As I reflect more and more on the words of psalmist, I’m reminded of this special idea share by St. Teresa of Calcutta:
When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now.
Thank you, Jesus, for loving us.
