Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”

The well-done celebration of Sunday Mass can be, even in some rather incidental ways, a reminder about otherwise neglected aspects of human life. The effort and dignity the woman puts into proclaiming the first reading; the beauty and richness of the baritone voice leading the singing; the time spent in greeting others and wishing them peace; the reverences made to the book of the Scriptures and to the altar; the individual attention in the distribution of communion -- all these speak of the value and dignity of human beings, of human life, of all the visible as well as invisible elements of human life.

One is reminded for an hour or so that the earth and our fellow human beings are valuable in themselves apart from the opportunities for gain, apart from what they can do for us. One comes away from such a service refreshed, one's youthful excitement and delight in creation restored. The general and easily banal affirmation of God's love for the earth and humankind becomes something genuine, referring to each human being there. Besides affirming the place of God in our lives, worship can celebrate the worth of every element and person in God's creation. At the center of it all is our remembering that “God so loved the world that He sent His only-begotten son into the world to save it” (1 John: 4:9-10)

Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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