At Mass this morning at Christ the King, we used an excerpt from Psalm 50 as the psalm between the two readings. I have doubtless heard these words before, but found them particularly powerful this morning.
Hear, my people and I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
God, your God, am I.Not for your sacrifices to I rebuke you,
for your holocausts are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats from your fold.For mine are all the animals of the forests,
beasts by the thousands are on my mountains.
I know all the birds of the air,
and whatever sits in the plains, belongs to me.
What good did it do God for the people to take what was already God’s and hand it back?
Reflecting on it afterward, the passage brought to mind the parable of the talents, which makes the same point in a different way. If all we do is re-wrap and give back to God that which God gave us, what good is that? It is how we use God’s gifts that bring glory and praise to God.
Creo en Dios! 