Daily Bible: Sing His Praise!
Saint Paul valued his relationship with Jesus above all things. In Philippians 3:3-8 he explains how secure he was in the Covenant as a faithful Jew. But even though the Old Covenant made him “confident in the flesh,” Saint Paul counted it all as loss compared to what he gained in Jesus. Saint Paul calls us to re-evaluate our values. What do you value more than Jesus? What do you need to count as a loss compared to the supreme good that is the Lord?
Psalm 105:2-7 is a song of praise to God. It tells us to sing praise to God, and also to serve Him in everything we do.
In Luke 15:1-10 we hear Jesus talk about His mission to save those who are lost. He hears the Pharisees grumbling that Jesus eats with sinners. Jesus responds with two parables, each showing how finding what is lost is more important than focusing on what is already attained. His message is that His mission – and the mission of Heaven – is to save the sinners and others who are outside of the Covenant. This doesn’t mean that Jesus doesn’t care for those who are already in the Covenant. Rather, anyone in the Covenant should join Jesus in His desire to bring the lost to salvation. Catholic tradition calls this having a zeal for souls. Some mystics and spiritual writers link this zeal for souls to Jesus’ thirst on the Cross. Do you have a zeal for souls? Are you working to recover those who are lost, to bring them into the Covenant of Jesus?
Reflection Questions
1. If you could compose a song of praise to God, what would your hymn say?
2. What do you do to evangelize, to correct the sinner, to instruct the ignorant, or to otherwise seek those who are lost?