Welcome to our new look, Daily Encounters, Living Sunday's Word! This daily email, which reflects on the past Sunday's Scripture from the Lectionary, is an attempt to help you live with and deepen God's Word you heard at Mass on the preceding Sunday. We hear the Scriptures proclaimed on Sundays; now, we are attempting to apply what we listened to in our personal lives during the week. We invite you to take 5 mins daily to reflect on God's Word. Allow that Word to start your day; it may help put all the other words you hear daily into perspective!

Let those who love the Lord say: “His love endures forever.” The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. 

 (Psalm 118:4, 22-23)

News headlines are showing us that there is nothing of worldly value that is completely safe. World economies are crumbling; many governments are crippled by corruption and greed; resources are often in short supply or running out; families are being threatened, and senseless violence escalates. We might be tempted to see only doom and gloom and wonder if life has any point.

Just over a week ago, the Church remembered that God could not be overcome. God, through Jesus Christ, has won the victory of all that seeks to destroy us – even death. God has not forsaken us. Yes, the things of this world may feel uncertain and overwhelming, but God’s victory over all that can destroy our souls is eternal! Psalm 118 is a prayer that expresses God’s victory incredibly well.

Originally this Psalm was written as an individual’s hymn of thanksgiving for all God has done. With time it has been adapted for congregational use and has even been used at national events. Such is the beauty of its expression.

Our minds often allow God’s voice to be drowned out in our noisy world. We are bombarded with so much information we sometimes feel as if we can explain away the existence of God. Even the most devout of people have known a period of dry, empty prayer or crisis of faith.

Then, God's presence is felt amid the chaos of our thoughts and emotions. A spectacular sunrise may show us God’s power greeting the day, or a starlit night reminds us of God’s immense grandeur. God’s trust in us is mirrored in our child’s eyes. Somehow there is just enough for that last loaf of bread when our monthly budget suggests a deficit. A stranger runs after us to give us something important we had dropped. A song pops into our heads, and its lyrics warm our hearts.  These are not things we can alone force to happen. They are God’s presence weaving through our life. They are important to notice and are the things that strengthen our faith.

Do we begin each day with the hope that we will encounter God at work in our lives?

Do we remember to reflect on the day's end and recognise those encounters?

Are we, like the Psalmist, able to say: “God’s love endures forever?”  

Reflection by Cherie-Lynn van der Merwe

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