Psalm Reflection: Fourth Sunday of Lent (Cycle C)

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” - Psalm 34

What does God look like? If you were to paint a picture of Him where would you start? I think sometimes, God can seem intangible and distant because we have dismantled the Trinity into three distinct AND separate persons, leaving God the Father to be depicted as an omnipotent bearded figure in the Heavens, and the Holy Spirit as something similar to the “force” in Star Wars. But the reality is that the three persons of the Trinity reveal to us ONE and only ONE God. The word by the early Church fathers used for “person” in this sense was “hypostases,” which more accurately translates to “ways of being.” In this way we see the distinction of the Trinity but also the unity. I am a father to my daughter, I am the son to my parents, and I am also able to act in love to brings certain groups of people together in my life. Three ways of being, same Matt. 

When we read a Psalm like this, it can be difficult to think about how we might “taste” and “see” God, unless we remember that He revealed Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Not only were people able to see Him in the flesh, He instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist for us to be able to look at Him and taste His very flesh and blood. That is an incredible gift. So, if you feel distant from God this week, go to a daily Mass or to an Adoration chapel, and recognize you are beholding and consuming the goodness of the living God Himself. He is not far away and disconnected. He walked on this earth, just like you and me. We are praying for you this week.

See you in the Eucharist.