Meditation:
Psalm 104, the greatest praise of creation in scripture, ends with an invocation for God to destroy sinners. This seems odd at first. However, we need to realize that sin destroys the creation, as Pope Francis has stressed in Laudato Si’. The goodness of creation should cause us to reflect on how our own sinfulness destroys the creation. If we look a few verses earlier, we see that the Psalmist also reminds us of how the Holy Spirit renews us. The goodness of the creation should cause us to recognize the holiness of God and the depth of our own sin.
Psalm 104:30-35
When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure for ever, may the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more! Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!
Prayer:
Christ is risen from the dead,
By death trampling down on death,
And to those in the tomb,
He has granted life!
