Psalms of Assurance - Noticing God's Goodness

As I think back to important moments in my spiritual journey, the gift of “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy” received on my 31st birthday stands out. A practice the author encourages is to keep a ‘gratitude journal’, finding a few things to jot down at the end of each day for which one is grateful. This can be as simple as savoring coffee at sunrise, or as momentous as receiving important good news. Adopting this practice was my first experience of an Examen, a holy noticing of God’s presence and action in my life.

What St. John wrote about the apostles’ experience of Jesus is also true for us: Divine Life becomes visible all around us (1 John 1:1-4) when we pause to notice. What we have seen, what we have heard, what we have touched, puts us in touch with the Risen Christ. And sharing what we notice with others ‘makes our joy complete.’

Last year I started jotting down psalm verses that caught my attention, sticking post-it notes to the side of the bookcase next to my morning prayer chair. A theme emerged: asking for divine guidance to show me the way forward (Ps 25:4-5), the road I should take (Ps 143:8), the path to follow (Ps 16:11).

While holding these questions for myself, answers came in the form saying ‘yes’ to others’ invitations:

• Encouraged to run for a second term on my condo association board, I helped lead and implement decisions to fund major capital reinvestment in our building.
• Asked to deepen my accompaniment, I assisted the founding staff and board in forming a not-for-profit corporation to bring Ignatian Ministries to birth.
• Invited to join a global effort for the Society of Jesus to research and make recommendations about women collaborating with the Jesuits, I was appointed to the Women’s Commission by Fr. General to be one of the representatives for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and US

Recognizing with deep gratitude the abundance of grace I was receiving from God to live into these commitments, I considered continuing the theme from one of these psalms into the new year. Then I paid attention to a little inner nudge, pausing to ask for some divine guidance. Some people have a habit of opening the Bible to a random place when seeking guidance. In this instance, I used a random number generator. That’s how Psalm 145 picked me.

One of the acrostic psalms, the verses of Psalm 145 follow the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. From Alef to Tav, the psalmist praises God, noticing God’s goodness in every aspect of creation, in every aspect of life. I am reminded that all the ways I offer my time and energy are possible because of God’s grace.

One month into the new year finds us caught up in a fraught election cycle in the US. We are challenged by tensions in the Church. Families, cities, and nations struggle to find peace. Climate change seems to accelerate. It’s easy to become discouraged and cynical. However much I desire to escape, I share a belief that “the concrete realities of life are the only place where we can encounter God” (Egide van Brookhaven, S.J., quoted in Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread, 12/28/023). Noticing and naming these encounters prevents despair, and sharing what we experience with others helps us abide with joy.

In the spirit of Psalm 145, a grace I seek this year is inspiration to capture what I notice. Pulling phrases from my journal entries through the week, I’ve begun turning them into poetry, psalms in my own words, to help me remain grounded in God’s goodness. May this practice create a hymn of praise through the ebb and flow, the A to Z, of whatever this year brings.

Going Deeper Together:

• As this Into the Deep series comes to a close, what is the grace you are seeking? What psalms help express and hold this grace for you?
• Pray with different translations of Psalm 145 using Lectio Divina, a time-honored way to pause and savor God’s word. I love the imagery captured in The Complete Psalms: The Book of Prayer Songs in a New Translation, and The Psalter: A faithful and inclusive rendering from the Hebrew into contemporary English poetry, intended primarily for communal song and recitation.
• Reflect on Alphabet of Grace by Maureen Martin, and consider adopting or refreshing your own practice of noticing with gratitude how God is with you each day. Maybe you will be inspired to write your own psalms using this resource from Catechist’s Journey.

Photo by Rachel Strong on Unsplash

Jenene Francis

Jenéne Francis is an aspiring contemplative in action who finds writing creative non-fiction and short fiction a fruitful spiritual practice. She also enjoys adapting and offering the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius for days of reflection and retreats. Jenéne recently retired from the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus after many years supporting Jesuits and colleagues who serve retreat houses, spirituality programs, parishes, and as hospital chaplains and other pastoral ministers. Having spent her first career at the Procter and Gamble Company in product development and manufacturing, followed by more than 20 years in Jesuit ministry, Jenéne gets great satisfaction offering her engineer’s head and poet’s heart for “the greater glory of God.”