The famous Psalm 42 is in the Morning Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours for this day:
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| I thirst for God. |
Like the deer that yearns
for running streams,
so my soul is yearning
for you, my God.
My soul is thirsting for God,
the God of my life;
when can I enter and see
the face of God?
My tears have become my bread,
by night, by day,
as I hear it said all the day long:
“Where is your God?”
These things will I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I would lead the rejoicing crowd
into the house of God,
amid cries of gladness and thanksgiving,
the throng wild with joy.
Why are you cast down, my soul,
why groan within me?
Hope in God; I will praise him still,
my savior and my God.
My soul is cast down within me
as I think of you,
from the country of Jordan and Mount Hermon,
from the Hill of Mizar.
Deep is calling on deep,
in the roar of waters;
your torrents and all your waves
swept over me.
By day the Lord will send
his loving kindness;
by night I will sing to him,
praise the God of my life.
I will say to God, my rock:
“Why have your forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
oppressed by the foe?”
With cries that pierce me to the heart,
my enemies revile me,
saying to me all day long:
“Where is your God?”
Why are you cast down, my soul,
why groan within me?
Hope in God; I will praise him still,
my savior and my God.
***
Many of us feel as if already being crushed by our problems and burdens. And if we don’t have a close relationship with God, we feel that He is far away and doesn’t listen to any of our prayers, especially if instead of getting words of encouragement, we are disheartened by other people such as our enemies or frienemies, like the Psalm above says.
We then try to find a solution to our desperate situation to material things shopping, hobbies like watching tv or movies, spending too much time with friends and having fun in many ways but usually drinking in bars, and fighting depression by wasting hours in the social media and gadgets.
If we rely on these activities, and think that our happiness depends on good-time friends, we are then mistaken. These people… they either leave us on bad times, or move on with their lives (while we’re stuck in our desperation).
When we don’t put spiritual life in these attempts to feel ‘better’, the sadness just goes in circles. Our body in reality is not hungry for these worldly stuffs… because it is our soul that is thirsty of God. If we don’t put Him in our life, we can never be fulfilled. No matter what or how much we consume to quench our thirst, if we are only consuming for our bodily appetites with temporal worldly solutions, we would just be disappointed, never be satisfied, and continuously suffer.
There’s only one who will be quenching our thirsting… Jesus, who for our sake, gave His life.
Our thirst for God…
Let us recall that from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 33, the human person has “longings for the infinite” which only God can fulfill.
Other people have not many trials, but they still feel lonely. They are trying to find the meaning of their lives. And they believe they want to achieve their dreams. Some of them are eaten up just to reach those. While others fall into sinful or immoral lifestyle. They don’t believe in God at all, don’t believe in God much, or just don’t believe God is the answer.
St. Augustine starts his Confessions with his prayer to God “…our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”.
We can only find strength to continue living amidst everything if we make God our rock. Our sufferings, if we look at them how a world does, we are hopeless. But we must know that we should continue to hope in God like in this Psalm. We use our sufferings as means to develop our relationship with God more. One day, as we become closer to God through our sufferings, He might take those away. But if not yet, for sure God knows what He’s doing and what’s happening to us. We just need to trust His hand in all these… for we have a mission in this life, and live it in holiness as much as we can by doing God’s will. If I am ill, I offer my sickness to God and I serve Him that way. Even He makes us feel alone, that’s fine, as in the end, it’s about me and Him. We continuously pray, with devotion to our Blessed Mother to bring us to her Son. God, it’s Him that we need the most.
She graduated cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas, the country's Pontifical and Catholic university, with an AB in Legal Management and minor units in Theology.
As an unmarried woman, prayer holds a central place in her daily life, with a focus on the Rosary and the Divine Office. Embodying her faith, she emphasizes the growth of her inner spiritual life, guided by the wisdom of Carmelite spirituality.
God manifested to her in a unique and radical manner, which made her know Who He truly is and led her to total surrender of her life to Him.
She has studied the Bible with her family, developing a particular fondness for the Old Testament.
Her adorable and intelligent toy poodle is a delightful companion in her daily life, bringing warmth and joy to her home.
Her hobbies include reading about everything, learning Japanese and German, listening to music and playing the flute.
In her leisure time, she enjoys gaming on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo 3DS, iOS and OS, and collecting things related to PlayStation and Nintendo.
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