GIVE US THIS DAY, OUR DAILY SALVATION
“The Lord is my light and my salvation.” - Psalm 27:1
One of my favorite Taize phrases comes up in today’s Psalm: “The Lord is my light, my light and my salvation: In God I trust. In God I trust.”
The word salvation, however, has a certain gravitas I associate with it. When I hear salvation, I hear the grand gesture of Jesus saving me through His death on the cross and inevitably feel the stifling weight of God’s infinite love, so vast and immense. And yet in the same Psalm, we hear the word light, something simple and commonplace we see daily from light bulbs to our digital screens to the sun itself. A word that can also ironically literally mean less weight.
Even though we see light every day, however, why can’t it be special? It’s rare, but beautiful, when I can savor the tingling of sun rays dancing on my skin. When I enjoy the golden light all around me in “the time of the breeze”, illuminating my way and allowing me to take in tiny details of the world around me, from individual blades of grass to people going about their own unique, beautiful lives as I take in slow, deep breaths and allow God to make that moment truly wonderful.
On the other hand, why must salvation always be so heavy? I can invite God to be my daily salvation. To be with me in the simplest moments of life. From asking Him for strength to get off the couch when I’m feeling lazy to celebrating with God the little victories of accomplishing a task at work. Salvation can come in asking Jesus to bless my drive, or in walking with my dog and I on our usual route. It can even come in asking God to help me turn towards Him a little more attentively in my prayer life in the morning and before bed, so I can start and end my day with Him and be more present and purposeful in all I do.
As we enter the most extraordinary week in our Catholic faith, let us invite God to be with us fully, our light and our salvation in both the grandest and tiniest ways. May we make every moment in our lives special, illuminated by Christ as we journey towards the Passion and Resurrection, and may we recognize our salvation each day as a grace of God’s hope and love for us made real in every breath we take.
Rather than a worded prayer, let us take a moment to invite our Lord, our light and salvation, to be with us by simply spending a moment outside, taking a few slow, deep breaths, and feeling with all our senses His presence in the sights and sounds of the world around us.
Kevin Nguyen