Give thanks to the Lord
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to thy name, O Most High; to declare thy steadfast love in the morning, and thy faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For thou, O Lord, hast made me glad by thy work; at the works of thy hands I sing for joy.” (Ps. 92:1-4)

Giving thanks for ordinary things and events doesn’t come natural to me, and probably not to others either. Last week was a tough week, my best friend Peter died after doing battle with cancer. We had been friends for 46 years. Then another friend who lives in Manila has an ongoing battle with paralysis which was the cause of a fall last week. And today, my OFS fraternity meeting got postponed; that’s no big deal compared to the other happenings last week, but I wonder what else can go wrong? Then I was led to Psalm 92, which is about praising the Lord, and I thought He deserves my praise in spite of all these negative things in my week. He deserves our praise for His love for us, His love which is expressed in making Himself available to us, in the Mass, in the form of the Bread and Wine: the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, the REAL Presence: He is giving us Himself, when we are most in need.

In John 6:51 - “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." Here Jesus tells all of us that HE is the living bread; see v. 51-58. We have every reason to give thanks to the Lord for His great gift of Himself to us. Attend Holy Mass to receive Him in Holy communion but be prepared - if you’re not living a clean life, you need to mend fences before receiving Him. Peace!

Ps. 92 implies singing your praises to the Lord, and the fact is that I love to sing. At home I’ll sing the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours which I pray daily (Morning/Evening Prayer). I used to be a member of the church choir. The reason this is no longer the case is inability to climb up the choir loft stairs. I am sad, as I’ve been singing for about 20 years.

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to thy name, O Most High…” Give thanks!

Fred Schaeffer, OFS
September 8, 2024

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