R. (1) You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
From your presence where can I flee? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I take the wings of the dawn, if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea, Even there your hand shall guide me, and your right hand hold me fast.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light"–For you darkness itself is not dark, and night shines as the day.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
REFLECTION
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is speaking to the scribes and Pharisees. Something that dawned on me while reading this was the possibility that they never understood their ways as evil until Jesus came along. I have always thought of the Pharisees as the “bad guys” of the Bible, those intentionally doing evil and undermining others. Nothing is ever that black and white though, and Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves (hence the psalm). He brought these things into the open and was hated for it. It can be painful to realize your faults. In the wise words of Pope Francis, the hope is that we are able to also “recognize that there is always a way out, that we can always redirect our steps, that we can always do something to solve our problems” ('Laudato Si’, no.16).
How is the Lord speaking to you through today’s readings? Where is he calling you to? May we always recognize the hand of God in our lives and never stop going back to the One who always is, was, and shall be.
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