Bible Study Recap: How CATHOLIC is Psalm 23!!!

+JMJ+
Saint Camillus de Lellis

Howdy!

How CATHOLIC is Psalm 23??? Or, rather, how does Psalm 23 refer to the Sacraments?

Normally we just prayerfully — and silently --- reflect on the Responsorial Psalm in our session...but tonight was special!

Aside from the usual grumblings about the translation of the Psalm in this Sunday's Mass…

We really got into it, from a Catholic point of view, and it was wonderful! What, for example, is the "banquet" and the "cup overflowing" and the "table?" And the "restful waters?" And the OIL???

They're the Sacraments!

Our Shepherd gives us an amazing banquet of His Body and Blood! The TABLE IS THE ALTAR! And let's not forget the "oil," which is used to anoint us in Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, The Sacrament of the Sick — amazingly wonderful!

"Thy Rod and Thy Staff"…what's the difference?

Pat and Frank got it immediately when I asked the question, but they spoke so low I didn't here them. Did you ever wonder about that? No? Well, you should! :-)

Here's the thing about a good shepherd:

A good shepherd carries a rod to ward off enemies of his sheep — like wolves.

His staff is not just for walking, but — you know how the bishop's crook has that little curved thing on the top — you know, the stick that looks like that thing in old time movies that roughly remove the flops on the vaudeville stage? That's to gently but firmly bring back the sheep that go astray…the shepherd simply cuffs the little lamb — think Little Bo Peep here to get an image — and brings the little guy back to the fold! So, in Psalm 23 — just from the parts read this Sunday alone! -- we've got the Eucharist, pretty much all the other Sacraments, and a bishop to boot!

Of course, Jeremiah led us to good things…and some arguments…

…or rather, we let the passage do so. My fault. I compared the tragic division of the Chosen People with the tragic division among Christians. Probably because some of us were at Mass today at Saint Francis Chapel and heard Father Michael Warren's homily, which centered on the schism between Roman and Orthodox Christians, which he based on today's Gospel. (Matthew 11:25-27). Again, my fault. If I told myself once, I've told myself a zillion times: do not try to "figure out" the Trinity! (Fortunately, no bones were broken, and we continue to pray that, as Saint John Paul II prayed, "that the Church will breath with both lungs." Enough to say: the Holy Spirit DOES proceed from the Father and the Son.)

Take it easy…if you can.

It's pretty easy to understand, on reading this Sunday's Gospel, why priests especially are pretty much required to make a retreat periodically. As a wise confessor once told me (I'd rather self-righteously I must admit), to being annoyed at the "interruptions" I'd had to "put up with" from people while I was striving for quiet prayer in a church. "Interruptions," he told me, "are a part of prayer. Jesus Himself was constantly `interrupted' while at prayer. Read the Gospels!"

Good advice. And a good session tonight, thanks be to God.

We prayed for you…please remember us in your prayers.