Podcast: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Hi and welcome to the Modern Psalmist Podcast. I’m Rebecca De La Torre.

This weekend we celebrate the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. The psalm for this weekend is taken from chapter 90:

“In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.”

The verses in the psalm remind us of God’s incomprehensible greatness and how those who depend on the Lord gain wisdom of heart.

The Communion Antiphon is from Psalm chapter 42, verses 2 and 3:

“Like the deer that yearns for running streams,
so my soul is yearning for you, my God;
my soul is thirsting for God, the living God.”

The verses in the antiphon echo the same sentiment from the psalm, proclaiming that the Lord is a refuge and help for those who call on him.

Pslam 42, verse 6 states:

“Hope in God; I will praise him yet again,
my saving presence and my God.”

and verse 9

“By day the Lord decrees his loving mercy;
by night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.”

The communion antiphon reminded me so much of a psalm that I composed a couple years ago, and it actually works well as a featured song for today. It communicates the same sentiment of “thirsting for God” that we found in the communion antiphon.

Taken from Psalm chapter 63, the refrain is:

“My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord, my God.”

This psalm is attributed to King David when he was in the desert of Judah ,and suffered physical and material longings, as well as a spiritual thirst for God.

In the very beginning of this psalm, we read:

“O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.”

Whether we are currently in a “desert” phase of our lives or not, still we all have this unmet longing in our soul. And every truly wise person knows that only the God of the universe can fill that longing.

That was “Psalm 63: My Soul Is Thirsting” for the 23rd Sunday of ordinary time, year C. Links to all the recordings and sheet music can be found directly in the show notes, and also on TheModernPsalmist.com.

The plan is to continue every Sunday of Season 4 all the way through to the feast of Christ the King. Then we will begin Season 5 with my elaborate Advent series. So I have a lot of beautiful music and thoughtful reflections that I look forward to sharing with you this fall.

Until next weekend, may God bless you.