God Has Done Great Things for Us
On this 2nd Sunday of Advent, the verses of the psalm serve as a fitting link between the Baruch reading and the gospel passage from Luke. The psalmist sings of the hope that comes from remembering God’s goodness. A post-exilic psalm, we in the US may have difficulty identifying with “sowing in tears” because we have not been exiled from our land, but many have – Native Americans, African Americans, refugees. We all have felt God’s saving hand in our lives and “God has done great things for us.” We also can pray this psalm in the name of our brothers and sisters who are going through similar experiences. It will take courage and generosity to pray in the name of children separated from their parents, refugees who must flee their homes, or the deported who have lost everything. But if we do so, we will learn what great, undreamt things God is ready to do for and through us.
Our God brings us back to Zion, we are like dreamers,
laughing, dancing, with songs on our lips.
Other nations say, “A new world of wonders! Their God is with them.”
Yes, God, works wonders. Rejoice! Be glad!
God, bring us back as water to thirsty land.
Those sowing in tears reap, singing and laughing.
They left weeping, casting the seed.
They come back singing, holding high the harvest.
[verses adapted from The Psalter © 1995, Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.]