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TODAY’S WORD…

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God says to the wicked,

“Why should you recite my commandments?

Why should you talk about my covenant?

You refuse to let me correct you;

you reject my commands.”

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“Giving thanks is the sacrifice that honours me,

and I will surely save all who obey me.”

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– Psalm 50:16-17,23 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…rephrased from St. Robert Bellarmine’s Commentary on Psalm 50…

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God takes sinners to task and admonishes them:

“Why should you recite my commandments?

Why should you talk about my covenant?”

Indeed, why does the stubborn sinner profess to be a Christian,

to know God’s law, to recount its principles, to profess to belong to God’s family,

when he or she does not observe God’s law,

nor behaves in a morally correct manner?

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“You refuse to let me correct you;

you reject my commands.”

God alludes to both secret and public sins.

He accuses stubborn sinners about setting their minds entirely against the spirit of the law of God,

forgetting and rejecting God’s commands.

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God lays down that the way of salvation lies entirely in the one sacrifice of thanks and praise.

Those who humbly and lovingly offer it constantly and regularly will be saved.

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“Giving thanks is the sacrifice that honours me,

and I will surely save all who obey me.”

Sincere, humble and meaningful praise and thanks from those who obey His Law

is what gives honour to the Lord and returns His great love.

That attitude, that ‘sacrifice’, is the way to salvation – divine, full, and perfect salvation.

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How is it that the essence of salvation is made to depend on the sacrifice of thanks and praise?

St. Augustine tells us that, nobody truly praises and thanks God,

unless he or she is really devout and sincere.

The insincere praise God with their lips, but not by their lives;

and so theirs is idle praise because their lives are in opposition to it.

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Praising and thanking God, therefore, does not mean, simply that,

but such praise and thanks must come from the altar of our hearts, on which is burning the fire of love.

The sacrifice of praise and thanks, of necessity includes love

and it is, therefore, no wonder what will lead to our salvation.

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QUOTE…from the Catechism of the Catholic Church – paras 1358 – 1361

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" We must therefore consider the Eucharist as:

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– thanksgiving and praise to the Father;

– the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body;

– the presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his Spirit.

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Thanksgiving and praise to the Father

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The Eucharist, the sacrament of our salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross,

is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creation.

In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and the Resurrection of Christ.

Through Christ, the Church can offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving

for all that God has made good, beautiful, and just in creation and in humanity.

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The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father,

a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all His benefits,

for all that He has accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification.

Eucharist means first of all "thanksgiving."

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The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of praise by which the Church sings the glory of God in the name of all creation.

This sacrifice of praise is possible only through Christ:

He unites the faithful to His person, to His praise, and to His intercession,

so that the sacrifice of praise to the Father is offered through Christ and with Him, to be accepted in Him.”

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PRAYER…

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We praise You, Father of all;

We thank You for calling us to be Your people,

And for choosing us to give You glory.

Cleanse our hearts and our lives with Your Holy Word

and make our prayers of praise and thanks pleasing to You.

Guide us by Your Spirit as we follow in the paths of Jesus Your Son, our Lord.

All glory and praise are Yours, Father, for ever and ever.

Amen!

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