Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Cross in Green Bay, WI

Reflection for Nov. 15, 2015

As the church year concludes where have you seen God's wealth?

by Sister Carolyn Zahringer

The responsorial psalm this weekend is a small portion of Psalm 16. The refrain is "You are my inheritance, O Lord", as though to say our 'wealth' is the Lord, which is true!  The line in the psalm text that caught my eye is: "You will show me the path to life ..."  This is a promising statement to both ponder and unpack. A responsorial psalm is a scriptural response and an invitation to hear and respond more deeply to God's life-giving Word.

We are at the mid-point of the final month of the Church year. We might ask ourselves:

Advent will soon arrive signaling a new beginning. Life is a constant ebb and flow of beginnings and endings.

 

Psalm 16. The refrain is "You are my inheritance, O Lord", as though to say our 'wealth' is the Lord, -

I came to a "new," i.e., deeper, richer, fuller, more meaningful understanding of this "ALL-ness" expression of God-in-my-being-ness after the death of my Dad in Dec., 2004.

Our generation was the first to receive an inheritance from the previous generation. In fact, Dad's Dad, my Grampa, had left their family in debt due to Grama's illness and death during the time of the Great Depression. My Dad, knowing what that was like, did not want his children to, not only suffer the loss of a beloved parent, but then also face the harsh reality of having to pay off their debt.

Dad's desire to care for us, for those he loved, came to much greater fruition than he had anticipated, however.

After his death, I came to realize how "things" that are manifestations of love, are - and will always remain - just that -- "things." The REAL INHERITANCE is the Belovedness, Itself - the RELATIONSHIP; the PERSON; the "ALL" of Who-S/He-Is.

The line of Ps. 16 ..You will show me the path to life.. is one of my favorite lines. Thank you for the richness of your reflection.

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