Psalm Reflection: The Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

“The Lord upholds my life.” - Psalm 54

If you have been a frequent reader, you know that my journey to conversion began with a life-altering and traumatic loss. Two weeks before our high school graduation, my best friend, AJ, drowned while we were swimming in the local lake. I pulled his body out of the water and administered CPR, but he did not make it. My whole world crumbled around me. Everything I had worried so much about previously on a day-to-day basis now seemed meaningless.

AJ was brilliant. He was an accomplished athlete and student. He was set to go on to bigger and better things, but I was not. I did not even apply to college, and was still completely unsure of what I wanted to do. So when AJ died, I was mad. I could not understand, if there was a God, how He could take someone like AJ from this world and leave someone like me behind. I desperately wanted to trade places with him. And one night in an outburst of emotion, I yelled out, “WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST TAKE ME?!?” 

Into that pain, God spoke to me for the first time in my life, simply saying: “I am not done with you yet.” 

I immediately began questioning what it was that I was meant to do. I realized I could honor AJ’s memory best by using the time I had left to fulfill whatever mission I was meant to accomplish on this earth.

I also realized in that moment, that I was still alive because God wanted me to be. It was no accident that things happened the way that they did, but God was using the events of life to bring about His purposes. I realized that He was upholding my life. 

God is upholding YOUR life at this very moment. If He forgot about you for even a split second, you would cease to exist. But, you are still here reading this, which means that God is thinking about you and willing you into existence at this very moment in time for a specific purpose that only you can fulfill. Do you realize that every single second of your life is a gift? And not only that, it is an assurance that God has not forgotten you. He is loving you into existence right now, and He will not stop until your time in this life is spent, at which time He will call you home so He can continue to love you in the next life.

If we truly know and believe these things to be true, we should never be worried, anxious, afraid, or doubtful. Our name is on the mind, heart and lips of the Creator of the cosmos! So, if we are still breathing, it is because there is still work to be done. 

Take a moment, right now, to stop and breathe. Feel the breath go in and out of your lungs. Find your pulse and listen to the beating of your heart. All of that is only possible if God is making it happen. It is all a gift. Take some time this week to praise and thank God for the gift of life, and ask for the grace to faithfully fulfill the unique mission you were created for.

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt