March 3/Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. ~ Ps 1.1-2
If there is one thing we have learned as a society, it is that the company we keep matters. Our social connections — or more accurately, our social media connections — have an outsized influence on our attitudes and behaviors. In reflecting on the dangers of ill-chosen companions, today’s psalm verses zoom across the millennia, conveying their ancient teaching to an age that sorely needs it. In 2022, the “advice of the wicked” might be Facebook’s rants and Tik Tok’s damaging algorithm-fueled videos on toxic dieting. The “path that sinners tread”? Twitter’s incendiary tweets. And the “seat of scoffers” would be nothing less than the newsroom desks and webcams of cable anchors, TV pundits, and internet purveyors of hate who foment division and valorize contempt. How, we may ask, are these wicked ones, these sinners, these scoffers, contributing to the sum of good in the world? And how are we — who are hooked on the cacophony — contributing to the sum of good in the world? “Happy” indeed are those who do not follow such advice, or take that path, or sit in those seats; “happy” are those who exercise restraint, who hold back, who refuse to give in to anger, or belittling, or demonization of others. It is always easier to say the hateful word, to throw the verbal bomb, to yield to our baser instincts — especially when anonymity relieves us of accountability. Earning the status of āšrē, or happy, blessed — the very first word of the Psalms — is sometimes a matter not acting, of turning from the noxious posts and the screaming TV hosts to sit in the presence of God and to dwell in the stillness of prayer. Now that is good company to keep.
O Lord of creation, Give us the strength and forbearance to pull back from the noise and jangle of the world and focus our attention upon you. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030322.cfm
To hear I Cantori di San Marco sing Marco Gemmani’s “Beatus vir qui non abiit,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lShiWAF6XxA
