Psalm Reflection: The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C

“Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.” - Psalms 96

When I first had a powerful conversion experience and gave my life to the Lord, I made a pretty crucial mistake.

I let the transformation and healing stay inside of me.

I compartmentalized my faith, and as I grew closer and closer to the Lord on Sundays at Mass and through serving in ministry, the rest of my life stayed exactly the same.

I kept behaving, speaking, and thinking the same ways I always had. When my new involvement at Church would come off I would brush it off, or talk generally about it. I was not ready for the Lord to have all of my heart.

The truth is, I was afraid.

I was afraid of losing the life I had, the things I enjoyed. I was attached to certain people, behaviors and sins, and I did not want to give them up. I kept learning everything I could about theology, the Bible, and Catholicism; the Lord was rapidly transforming my mind, but my heart was hard, rigid, and took much longer to change.

There are still pockets of my life where it is harder for me to give everything over to the Lord, places where it is harder for me to speak the truth into, because I worry about what will happen or how things will change.

But that is what the Lord asks of us. All of us for all of Him.

“Christianity is a condition of complete simplicity requiring no less than everything.” - T.S. Eliot, “Four Quartets”

I failed to do what the Psalmist compels us to do this Sunday: “Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.” If I had, the transformation the Lord had begun in me would have been more apparent, and likely would have inspired others to take notice and possibly begin their own search for the same joy and peace I had found.

Future Christians need to hear your story, because without it they will not be future Christians.

Your testimony is the most powerful evangelizing weapon in your arsenal, but it cannot be empty words. Your testimony must be lived in every single thing that you do. If our faith is relegated to a mere intellectual pursuit, it will never bear the fruits of real lasting faith, because faith requires action.

“For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” - James 2:26

Too many of us in the Church today are “dead men walking.” We show up, we go through the motions, but there is no substantial change happening in our lives. We are not allowing the Lord to completely transform us. We hold back and hold onto things that prevent us from living the abundant life the Lord has planned for us.

Maybe your life has changed and you have openly shared it, but the ways you witness have become comfortable and familiar. Part of proclaiming to “all the nations,“ means going to foreign places that are unfamiliar and that we do not normally frequent. Or perhaps it is sharing our faith on a scale that is larger than what is typical or comfortable for us.

Whatever the case may be, God wants all of us.

The problem is, we want all of us too. 

We have to decide.

You have to decide.

Is your life going to be better in your own hands or in the Lord’s who knows all and loves you perfectly?

What do you need to finally let go of in order for God to transform every part of your life?

What do you need to stop doing, saying, or thinking in order to live your faith in all that you do?

What do you need to start doing to better proclaim the marvelous deeds the Lord has worked in your life to everyone you encounter?

What foreign or unfamiliar places and situations do you feel the Lord calling you to boldly share your testimony in?

Decide today.

Will you live for yourself, or for the Lord? 

You cannot do both, one way will always overpower the other.

Choose wisely, because your choice has ramifications both here and in eternity.

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

Matt

This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, January 19th, 2025, The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C: Psalms 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10.