The Responsorial Psalm for today’s Mass is excerpted from Psalm 27, one of those that always brings me comfort.
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
Do not be afraid, says the Angel Gabriel to Mary. Do not be afraid, says Jesus to his disciples. In moments when I experience fear, this is the line that comes almost unbidden to my mind. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? Saying the words – even just hearing them in my mind – is enough to calm me, to strengthen me. We need fear no one and nothing.
One thing I ask of the Lord
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord
and contemplate his temple.
In the law we say of certain things res ispa loquitor – the thing speaks for itself. So it is with this line. It speaks for itself; it says it all, in conveying in such simple terms our aspiration – to be in full union with our God.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.
Whatever reason the Psalmist had for his security, we are an Easter people. For Christians, it is Jesus death, resurrection, followed by his ascension and sending of the Spirit, that allows us to assert with absolute confidence that we shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. That allows us to wait with courge, able to face whatever difficulties come our way.
I love this Psalm. I hear the words – I feel them – and they bring me strength and peace.
Pray the words today. Feel them. And be strengthened by them.
Creo en Dios! 
Your recent posts have been confirming my growing conviction that the quintessential Easter virtue is not “faith in the rising of Jesus from the dead” but a resolute HOPE in the ultimate victory of the Risen Christ — and how that radically transforms our lives and all creation. Yes, my intellect has been spouting that piety from grade school with the incomparable Sinsinnawa Domincan Sisters. But understanding something is not the same as doing it! for more than sixty years now I am still struggling to get this Easter HOPE into my bones. Thanks for the assist.