Listen

I love the Lord because he hears my requests for mercy. I’ll call out to him as long as I live, because he listens closely to me.
Death’s ropes bound me; the distress of the grave found me—I came face-to-face with trouble and grief. So I called on the Lord’s name: “Lord, please save me!”

Psalms 116:1-4

Think

Although God could have created human beings to love by default, God preferred love to be a free act. In other words, God preferred a love born of the heart, imperfect and free, instead of a form of love in which our will was not involved.

Our psalmist draws our attention to compelling reasons why God is worthy of our love. God listens, pays attention, and frees us from our existential prisons. In other words, without having to do so, God desires to earn our love, giving us reasons every day to love fully and freely. Such love deserves a long-term commitment and not merely sporadic gratitude. The psalmist cries out “I’ll call out to God as long as I live!”  What the psalmist is saying is, I will make my gratitude a continuous and persistent lifestyle. Could it be otherwise? In the face of such an expression of love from our creator, a lifetime commitment seems fair and proportionate!

Edgardo Fuentes Colón

Question to Ponder:

Does my current relationship with God reflect a long-term love and commitment or is it more of a momentary cure for my pain?

Pray

God, I may not be able to stop death from stalking me or to silence the anguish produced by my fears. Perhaps I sometimes feel like a prisoner of pain, surrounded by evil. What I do feel clear about is that my plea is always heard with love and that you are aware of my pain. Thank you, God, for such an enormous care. A lifetime will not give me enough time to repay you for such a great love! Amen.

Go

May God communicate in diverse and creative ways all that produces life in our spirit. May this strength make us attentive listeners, proactive doers, and communicators of the fullness of life that we find in God.