The Lord Be Your Shade

June 9, 2008
Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
By Beth DeCristofaro
The LORD then said to Elijah: “Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. You shall drink of the stream, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.” (1 Kings 17:3-4)
The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade; he is beside you at your right hand. The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. (Psalm 121:5-6)
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
Piety
Help me, O Lord, choose confidence in you over confidence in my possessions and title. Help me choose humility over aggression and thankfulness over self-sufficiency. Be ever at my right hand. May I sit always at your feet and follow your paths. May I always seek you in the hills, the valleys, the shadows and sunshine of my life.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/060908.shtml
What a potent and awesome moment: to join the hot, dusty, tired crowd waiting for the teacher. And then I hear him say “Blessed are you”. Blessed are you poor, sad, meek, peacemakers… Had I actually been there, my mind might have short circuited to hear his words even as my heart soared with hope! “Jesus saw those following him and saw their weakness and their need, their goodness and their desire, even the cost they are paying for following him. He looked at them and called them "Blessed."[i]
The psalm for today is one which is often read in the sickroom or in times of distress. In the notes to the NAB, it is stated that this psalm might have been written during one of the times in which Israel was threatened by a military power. In both the psalm and in 1 Kings, God is invoked as the only hope. Elijah is fed by God-sent ravens…the psalmist depends on no one less than the creator for safety. Blessings of safety and basic survival come directly from God as both the psalmist and Elijah know.
But what kind of safety? Jesus does not promise the dirty, downtrodden crowd (and me) that it gets easy if we follow him. Jesus promises me an interior blessing: a blessing that God is with me, that God will be with me and I will be called to God for eternity. It is an interior blessing which will be revealed in my actions and priorities if I accept it.
In the psalm, a line reads: the LORD is your shade; he is beside you at your right hand (Psalm 121: ) This line conjures up for me the image that God is as close to me as my shadow in lean times, dirty times, painful times as well as the times of success. Jesus’ words which end this chapter give us the difficult yet awesome potential of our goal: So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)
Action
Can you picture yourself sitting on the mount or on the plain (Luke 6:20-49) listening to Jesus’ inspiring words of the beatitudes? Can you feel the thrill that he knows you and your life? Calls you blessed? Can you picture your spouse, boss, or that annoying acquaintance sitting with you? Jesus would like them all to join you. Dr. Michael McCullough is “co-editor of The Psychology of Gratitude, published by Oxford University Press. His research suggests that taking a few minutes at the end of every day to write about events of the day for which you feel thankful will boost your sense of life satisfaction. You're also likely to sleep better and your spouse is likely to find that you seem happier with your life. His research suggests that people suffering from life-altering diseases also benefit from this "prescription."”[ii]
As you wrap up your day with prayer, include a list of things for which you are grateful. Sing praise as did the psalmist and enjoy the fact that modern social sciences are catching up with what the psalmist – and Jesus – knew long ago.
[i] Creighton University Weekly Ministry: http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Prayer/A2-OT-10.html
[ii] “The Infinite Mind”, LCM Productions, http://www.lcmedia.com/mind466.htm