Today is Victoria Day in Canada. My wife and I went to Mass this morning and sang "O Canada" and "God Save the Queen". The scripture reading was taken from Acts 14:5-18 and John 14:21-26. But Father Ian's homily focused on the Responsorial Psalm which was Psalms 115:1-2, 3-4, 15-16:
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to human beings.
This Psalm (especially in it's original Latin translation Non nobis) has been sung throughout the ages on many great occasions when victories (military) were won and on great feasts such as on this day when we celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria.
Non nobis is the conventional title of a short Latin Christian hymn used as a prayer of thanksgiving and expression of humility:
Nōn nōbīs, Domine, nōn nōbīs, sed nōminī tuō dā glōriam
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory
The story of Paul and Barnabas in Lystra and Derbe (Acts 14:5-18) is an illustration of such humility. When the crowd wanted to worship Paul and Barnabas after they performed a miracle of healing a cripple since birth, they tore their clothes (a sign of humility) and shouted to the crowd: "Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. " (verse 15)
Our Blessed Mother Mary is another great example of humility recorded in Luke 1:39-56. When she visited Elizabeth, who upon seeing Mary, exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?". Mary's response was to burst out in a Song of Praise (The Magnificat):
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
When I think about what I should be doing for the rest of my life, this is it!!! I must not think that there is anything great, or worthwhile, that I can do for the Lord. It is He who would do His great things through me. What I need to do is to cooperate with Him. And how do I know He is telling me what to do or act? By His Spirit!! In the Gospel passage today (John 14:21-26) Jesus reminded me that "I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name--
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you."
I should commit Psalms 115 to memory. And learn to pray always:
Nōn nōbīs, Domine, nōn nōbīs, sed nōminī tuō dā glōriam
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory
No comments:
Post a Comment