23 July 2014
Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Pope Benedict XVI was fond of calling the psalms a “school of prayer.” Indeed, we can learn much about how to pray from them. We are privileged today with a simple yet striking psalm. In very short phrases, the psalmist recounts who God has been for him and what he needs from God. In this way, it is a model of prayer.
It begins with the affirmation of God as “refuge.” The word conjures how trouble is overcome by God’s loving care. Can we call God our refuge in our worries, our hardships, and our sadness? Then we too can say, “For you are my hope, O Lord.” Later the psalmist intimately prays, “from my mother’s womb you are my strength.” Insofar as we are able today, let us pray from the heart, as we trust in God as our saving refuge and our strength.