Psalm Reflection: The Third Sunday of Lent - Cycle C

“The Lord is kind and merciful.” - Psalms 103

This has been a very challenging time for my family. 

I am writing this next to my son as he sleeps in a hospital bed, where we have been for close to 30 hours at this point, and will be for at least another day. My four-year-old son was suddenly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes after some minor but increasing symptoms made us suspicious and led us to urgent care.

He has been poked and stuck with needles over 20 times since we have been here, and my wife and I have been inundated and overwhelmed with new information that has an unbelievable pressure attached to it. It feels like if we do not get this information and this process in our heads perfectly, then the slightest error could have devastating consequences. We have both broken down in tears multiple times, as our resilient son makes jokes with the nurses, eats hamburgers, and watches Paw Patrol. 

He is four and He already knows something that I can forget when things get difficult: that the Lord really is kind and merciful.

I know that the Lord’s hand has guided us every step of the way. We could have ended up in the hospital under much worse circumstances. We have incredible family and friends who have rallied around us with prayer and support, and we know that we will be fine and that my son will be able to live a completely normal life. In a few months, this will all be second-nature to us, but right now, it is an overwhelming and emotional mess.

But I look at the joy on my son’s face, his positive attitude despite having to get used to being poked with needles every day for the rest of his life, and I know that the Lord is good. Ultimately, my son belongs to God, not to me, and I trust that whatever the Lord’s will is for his life is better than mine.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” - Isaiah 55:8-9

Whatever is going on in your life, no matter how difficult, dark, overwhelming, stressful, or unexpected, trust that the Lord is in it. It may not seem like it, but the circumstances may actually have been far worse if God was not at work. 

He is not waiting to pull the rug out from under you to test you.

He wants only what is true, good, and beautiful for you in life. 

All things work for good in His capable hands (Romans 8:28).

He is kind and merciful.

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

Matt

This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, March 23rd, 2025, the Third Sunday of Lent - Cycle C: Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11.