Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: October 13, 2023

Date in the Ordine: Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture Text: Psalm 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9

R. (9) The Lord will judge the world with justice. I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, Most High. R. The Lord will judge the world with justice. You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; their name you blotted out forever and ever. The nations are sunk in the pit they have made; in the snare they set, their foot is caught. R. The Lord will judge the world with justice. But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has set up his throne for judgment. He judges the world with justice; he governs the peoples with equity. R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.

Breaking the text open – background and summary:

The responsorial psalm for today reminds us of the LORD’s desire for justice upon the earth and the LORD as judge. We know the LORD’s law is that of love: love the LORD with all our being and love one another. Today’s psalm reminds us that we will be judged on how well we have embraced this path of righteousness and how well we have lived it. We look to our LORD who created us all, who loves us all for justice. In the end, it is us who reap what we sow: “sunk in the pit they made; in the snare they set, their foot is caught.”

Meditating on the text with personal questions:

Do I seek to live the covenant with the LORD based on loving the LORD with all my being and my sisters and brothers as myself? Is there hatred for another within me? Have I brought it to the LORD for help in breaking the hold of that hatred, shedding it and putting on love?

Praying:

LORD, Creator, Savior, Sanctifier, we come to You seeking your help in casting aside all that separates us from You and from loving our sisters and brothers as You desire, as You command. You created us and You saved us in love, through love, and for love. Come to us, Spirit, and kindle in us the fire of that love, stoke it and increase it to burn away anything within us that is unloving, any hatred, any malice for another. Grant that we will embrace your transformative love and allow it to fill our hearts, our minds, our wills so that we might be whole and holy, full of love for You that guides us to love one another well.