Rising with Our Lord at Work With the Help of This Psalm - 11
We continue with our special meditation on Psalm 118 (Protestants have it as Psalm 119).Our hope is that we can refresh all we do for the greater glory of God.
As we work our way through each section of this astounding psalm, we'll see how its words can help us in our work, to further hone our daily activities that they serve God even as we serve those to whom we owe an honest day's work.
Our posts began during our Easter Season. Now they have spilled over into the Octave of Pentecost.
Oh, right, our Princes got rid of the Octave of Pentecost. Why? Who knows. But if you observe the traditional calendar, it's still right there - where it should be.
As for our Princes, read on...
SIN
161 Princes have persecuted me without cause: and my heart hath been in awe of thy words. 162 I will rejoice at thy words, as one that hath found great spoil. 163 I have hated and abhorred iniquity; but I have loved thy law. 164 Seven times a day I have given praise to thee, for the judgments of thy justice. 165 Much peace have they that love thy law, and to them there is no stumbling block. 166 I looked to thy salvation, O Lord: and I loved thy commandments. 167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies: and hath loved them exceedingly. 168 I have kept thy commandments and thy testimonies: because all my ways are in thy sight.
Are "Princes" persecuting us these days? Well, if we consider our current crop of leaders, the answer may make itself clear without much analysis. But how does this apply to our work?
Past posts have considered all that's threatens to distract us during our work day. Among the items considered are current social and cultural trends. Our government plays its role as well.
Regarding our government, start with all the years that the infamous "Roe v. Wade" decision of the Supreme Court reigned supreme in our legal system. Tens of millions of abortions destroyed innocent lives for over 30 years. The recent overturning of that misguided, evil decision may perhaps ameliorate this somewhat. We'll see.
With that as a most egregious example, we can go down a long laundry list of legislation that has enabled, even promoted, what any Catholic who understands and practices his Faith would consider misguided and/or evil. We'll leave the details for now, but surely our "princes" will likely have a hard time explaining their defense of their refusal to speak the truth about the morally degraded behaviors that they defend and encourage in words and in law.
In our workplace, the drippings of all this have inculcated the so-called "woke" workplaces that push all forms of bad behavior, from the merely offensive to the outright contradiction of God's Law.
OK, we're being a bit vague. But we've catalogued these in great detail in recent years, spurred by the terrible "vaccine" mandates of the COVID Mess.
Add to this the "Princes" of our Holy Church. Those of us who practice the Catholic Faith handed down in its fullness from Jesus Christ through His Apostles, ultimately through their successors, our Bishops, have faced - to put it mildly - head winds in recent decades. The dysfunction and outright heresies that have dragged many of our leaders into the mire rub off on us in so many ways. And at times these can spill over into our work day.
A simple Baptism, presided over by a "modern" priest on one Sunday can leave us disjointed. And while we can't dwell on such matters, and likely don't want to upset the parents (who could be close loved ones), the rub off leaves a bad taste that may accompany us into work on Monday.
That's just a simple, not infrequent example. There have been many more - and some much worse - over the years.
Of course, while facing and bearing the burden - mostly mental and/or emotional - of what can be strong and/or persistent distractions, we attend to our duties with full vigor and fervor. We offer up any of the discomfort, perhaps even suffering, that may accompany these effects of the words and behavior of such "Princes."
Happy Easter!
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