Restore Us, O God; Let Your Face Shine, That We May Be Saved
As has been cited in previous musings, the psalm verses and refrain selected for a specific Mass, pick up on the message of the 1st reading and frequently is a bridge to the gospel of the day. In today’s reading, the northern kingdom of Israel has been conquered; in the gospel, the Romans control the land. Micah offers hope – help will come from the little, no importance village of Bethlehem and two pregnant Jewish women. This psalm, Psalm 80, is a wonderful Christmas song, a song of welcome to the God who comes to be among us; the psalm reminds us that our relationship with God is God’s work. Praying this psalm is a sacramental act of asking God to be with us because we already know how good it is that God is with us. God will do what God promised , and hopefully we recognize the face of God in our midst.
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Stir up your might, and come to save us.
Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven and see;
have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand has planted.
But let your hand be upon the one at your right,
the one whom you have make strong for yourself.
Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name..
(Psalm verses from the Lectionary for Sundays and Solemnities of the CCCB © Concacan, Inc. 1992, 2009.)