March 30/Tuesday of Holy Week
For you are my hope, O LORD; my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. ~ Ps 71.5-6
Having recently celebrated, as I have noted, a milestone birthday, I am more grateful than ever for what are now decades-long relationships — with childhood friends, my family, and my husband of 31 years (and counting!). Whether it is an abiding friendship, an enduring marriage, or longtime tenure in a company, a school, or institution, there is much to be said for lasting commitments. The stability and trust that emerge from relationships that have experienced joys and sadnesses, peaks and valleys, enthusiasms and distractions, are among the great goods of human life. Over the years, the durability of these bonds comes to create a supporting structure for our lives — scaffolding that we need and appreciate more than ever in these trying times. Our human relationships uplift and comfort us. Even more so can we find reassurance in God’s rock-solid and reliable presence in our lives, celebrated in today’s psalm. God has created us to be His own; he has offered us his strength and protection from before we were even born. We don’t always respond with the measure of love he gives us — anyone who has embarked on the journey of faith knows that it is anything but a linear progression. We zig and we zag, we stop and start, we backtrack and plunge ahead. While we are bouncing all over the place, God remains a firm and utterly dependable presence. “I go heavily in my doubt,” wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Meditating on the Word, “but God remains the source of strength; I sway, God stands immovable; I become false, God remains true—‘the God of my strength.’” Whatever dangers, toils, and snares we face, at any stage of our lives, we can depend on God as our strength and our hope.
Lord of life, As I grow and change through the years, let me acknowledge you continually as my unshakeable support. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033021.cfm
To hear “Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past,” as sung at Westminster Abbey, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsHIwXTjAOU
