March 23/Fifth Monday of Lent
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. ~ Ps 23
Today’s psalm – the iconic and beloved 23rd – embodies the calm that descends when we place ourselves entirely under God’s care. Many of the psalms we’ve encountered throughout Lent have carried an agenda of one kind or another: we have petitioned God to hear us, to forgive our transgressions or to bestow his compassion, we have lamented our sufferings, we’ve praised God for his constancy or grandeur, we have even expressed our anger when things went wrong. But Psalm 23 is simply a song about walking through our days accompanied by God. As the biblical scholar James Kugel observed, “It is just about ordinary daily life, a psalm about You and me: You are my shepherd.” In the eyes of the world, especially a world not so well acquainted with shepherds, this claim may seem foolish, oblivious to the hard realities out there. “We live in a time of economic uncertainty, war, illness and death,” say the worldly wise, “and you’re talking about still waters and green pastures?” Well, yes – because how else can we face these trials and challenges if we are not grounded in God? Life in our age, in every age, is filled with instability and change. On the global stage, a dictator invades, a typhoon destroys, a currency collapses. Closer in, a friend suddenly dies. The last child starts kindergarten, or heads to college. The company downsizes and the job disappears. Into the midst of these dangers, toils, and snares comes God, our infinitely wise shepherd, who will, if we allow him, supply our need. As the seventeenth-century mystic and priest St. Francis de Sales wrote, “God, whose very own you are, will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand it, God will carry you in his arms.”
O Divine Shepherd, Surround me this day with your guiding wisdom, and keep me within the fold of your love. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032326.cfm
To hear the Westminster Choir sing Virgil Thomson’s “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtPsYFv3D18&list=RDrtPsYFv3D18&start_radio=1
