4th Sunday of Lent

Responsorial - Psalm 23

Give Me Courage

Rainbows!

Dear Friends, exactly 6 years ago today (and I do mean exactly), on Sunday March 15, 2020, I posted my first Daily Reflection online.  And so here we are, over 2,100 days and 1.1 million words later (for those of you who are counting)! I think we can all agree that these past 6 years have been a rollercoaster of emotions – a ride we neither expected nor enjoyed!  Covid shutdowns and quarantines, isolation from family and friends, loss of loved ones, political and global unrest, unexpected illnesses and sudden relocations!  I guess it’s a good reminder that sometimes life is a bowl of cherries, and sometimes it’s the pits!

Moving forward, I realize it is time for me to make some adjustments to my daily reflection schedule in order to better devote myself to my family and personal responsibilities.  For the past 6 years, I have posted my daily reflections by email, on Facebook and on my blog!  And I know many of you have made my reflections a part of your daily life.

So beginning tomorrow, these changes will take place:

I will continue to post via email and Facebook but ONLY on Wednesdays and Sundays. 

For my blog, Gospel reflections will continue on a daily basis (new ones on Wednesdays and Sundays, reposts the rest of the week). Here is the link - https://deaconbillfrere.blogspot.com/

Please know how difficult a decision this has been and that it comes after a great deal of doubt, discernment and a bit of tears.  I can’t begin to thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement throughout the past 6 years.  It heartens me that, in some small way, I have been able to take this spiritual/scriptural journey with you!  You are the blessing!

Please understand!  I’m not closing the book – I’m just opening a new chapter!!! So let’s continue the ministry!

 

Something different – let’s reflect on today’s Responsorial Psalm, a very familiar Psalm 23!

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
    he refreshes my soul.

I wonder how often we really feel like we have all we need (never want), I wonder how often we really feel ‘rested and refreshed’.  Maybe the point is that we shouldn’t just be waiting around for rest and repose to come to us.  We have to make the time for a break, not expect it to just happen!

 
He guides me in right paths
    for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
    I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
    that give me courage.
 

Courage!  Notice that He guides us in the right direction but we still have to find the courage to take that road!  Not as easy as it seems!  Perhaps we need to keep reminding ourselves that we are not alone, even in the darkest of times/valleys!


You spread the table before me
    in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.

I don’t know about you but for me, when things seem darkest, it’s then that I realize all the good things/people in my life.  I realize that my table is full and somehow my cup is overflowing
 
Only goodness and kindness follow me
    all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
    for years to come.

Hope and Faith!  Maybe that’s the key – believing that goodness and kindness are not far away, that heaven is not far away! 

Psalm 23 can be such a comfort, such a wonderful reminder that all is not lost, not even in the worst of times and the most difficult of decisions!  The Lord is with us, right by our side providing comfort and serenity!  It’s just that too often we tend to forget!  Time to look for that rainbow!

 

Peace,

 

Deacon Bill Frere

9804 Elkins Road

Heiskell, TN 37754

773-458-8296

https://deaconbillfrere.blogspot.com/

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