How can we repay the Lord for his goodness to us?
Psalm 116:12-15, 18-19. February 15, 2023 - Wednesday, 6th Week
Psalm 116 belongs to a group of hymns known as the Hallel (Psalms 113-118), a collection associated with the term hallelujah - “praise the Lord”. In Psalm 116, the psalmist expresses praise and gratitude for deliverance from life-threatening trouble. Those hymns were sung during the celebration of the Passover as an expression of gratitude for deliverance from slavery in Egypt. But, they acquired a deeper meaning when Jesus prayed using them at the end of the Last Supper.
In the Gospel of Mark, we find this short statement: “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Mark 14:26). The Evangelist does not tell us which hymn they sang, but Psalm 116 is a good candidate for that hymn. Jesus and his disciples just finished the celebration of the Last Supper during which Jesus took the cup of wine and said: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:24). Together with the psalmist, we call it “the cup of salvation”. The Eucharist and the Cross belong to each other. They cannot be separated. Jesus referred to the cross as “the cup” that he must drink (see Mark 10:38) and the Church teaches that in the Eucharist our Lord perpetuated “the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again” (see CCC, 1323).
Then, we hear the psalmist declaring that “Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones”. Precious indeed was Jesus’ death on the cross in the eyes of the Father. Jesus’ death liberated us from the power of sin and death. Quoting Saint Ephraim, we say that although “death killed natural life, but supernatural Life killed death”. Moreover, Jesus did not remain in the realm of the dead. After rescuing the dead, He victoriously came out of the grave. The Father liberated His Faithful Son from death. This truth was declared in Jerusalem by Saint Peter when he said to the Jews: “God raised [Jesus] up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24).
At the heart of our proclamation is Jesus’ death for our sins and His resurrection for our justification (see Rom 4:25). At the heart of our liturgical celebration is the Eucharist, the sacrifice of thanksgiving. And, so how can we repay the Lord for all the good he has done for us? How can we repay the Lord for the utmost good, our salvation from sin and death? By preaching the Gospel about Jesus Christ and participating in the Eucharist. In this way, we thank God for His mighty acts of creation, redemption, and sanctification.
Let us commit ourselves to the proclamation of the Gospel. So many people still have not yet heard the message of salvation. And let us faithfully participate in the Eucharist in which, as the Church teaches us, “Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us” (CCC, 1323).