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TODAY’S WORD…

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From the depths of my despair I call to You, Lord.

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Hear my cry, O Lord;

listen to my call for help!

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If You kept a record of our sins,

who could escape being condemned?

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But You forgive us,

so that we should stand in awe of You.

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I wait eagerly for the Lord’s help,

and in His word I trust.

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– Psalm 130:1-5 (GNT)

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From a REFLECTION on Psalm 130 by Pope Benedict XVI …

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Psalm 130 is first and foremost a hymn to divine mercy

and to the reconciliation between the sinner and the Lord,

– a God who is just but always prepared to show himself

as “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity,

continuing his kindness for a thousand generations,

and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin”. (Ex 34: 6-7)

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The Psalm opens with a voice that rises from the depths of evil and sin:

From the depths of my despair I call to You, Lord.

Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help!

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It is significant that reverent awe, a sentiment in which respect and love are mingled,

is not born from punishment but from forgiveness.

If You kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned?

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Rather than sparking His anger, God’s generous and disarming magnanimity must kindle in us a holy reverence.

But You forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of You.

Indeed, God is not an intransigent, unyielding sovereign who condemns the guilty

but a loving father whom we must love, not for fear of punishment,

but for His kindness, quick to forgive.

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And then, “I wait eagerly for the Lord’s help, and in His word I trust.” Expectation, hope, the certainty that God will speak a liberating word and wipe away the sin

– these are now blossoming in the heart of the penitent.

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PRAYER…

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Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help!

Thank You, Lord God; forgive me, Lord God.

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