Now that we
are back in Ordinary Time, and again using the Liturgy of the Hours book for
this season, I am reminded of the experience I had five years ago when I was
moved by the frequency of this beautiful phrase in the psalms for God’s
faithful love – The steadfast love of
God. I actually took time to write
out these verses in my journal and went back to ponder them many times.
I located that Journal this week and
noted that in the five-week cycle of psalms for Morning, Noonday, Evening and
Night Prayers, the phrase is used nearly 100 times including some of the
Prayers. No wonder it has become such
nourishing food for my spirit!
See some
examples throughout the psalmody:
PS 33: The Holy One loves righteousness and justice,
and fills the earth with steadfast love. The Holy One looks on those who stand in
awe, on those who hope in God’s steadfast
love. Let your steadfast love rest upon us even as we
hope in you.
PS 48: We have pondered your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.
PS 86: For you, O God, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all
who call on you. For great is your steadfast love toward me…But you are a
God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
PS 89: But I will not remove from him my steadfast love…
Where is your steadfast love
of old?
PS 100: For God is good, steadfast love enduring forever, and faithfulness to all
generations.
PS 107: Give thanks to God who is good, whose steadfast love endures forever, (and repeated many times through this psalm,
ending with) Let those who
are wise give heed to these things and consider the steadfast love of God.
PS 119: The earth of full of your steadfast love.
PS 138: I give thanks for your faithfulness and steadfast love. Your steadfast love endures forever.
PS 143: Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.
A Prayer at Noonday: “God, you do wonderful deeds in our
midst and we praise you for your steadfast
love. Listen to the sound of our
prayer and make us firm in our commitment to your will for us. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
A Prayer at Night Prayer: “Dwell among us in your steadfast love, O God, and protect us
through the hours of this night. May we
who are wearied by the labors of the day rest in the certainty of your love for
us. The pray through Jesus Christ our
Lord.”
In this time of so much trauma in the
world: the Covid-19 Pandemic, the effects of unending wars, the upsurge of race
issues especially in the US, the millions of refugees all over the world, the
jobless and homeless in every country, the lack of honest leadership in so many
countries, the raping of the natural resources of our good earth, the list is
not ending – of the needs for prayer and concern for others. It is so comforting to be able to trust in a Triune
God who promises to stay with us always, to be faithful, to be steadfast in love with us, to stand always in our midst, from hour to hour, for
day to day, no matter the trauma, no matter the pain, in the Divine Dance. Each line of those Psalms reminds us that our
passionate God constantly pursues us with steadfast
love, hoping we will one day realize that a person will only love truly
when he or she is truly loved.
Sr. Mary Tewes, OSB
