psalm 96: joy to the world. 34th week tuesday

Today we continue our reflection on the responsorial psalm of the mass this time Psalm 96.  If you notice, there are so many things in the psalm that are not really true at the time it was composed and even now in our time.  How can one say, "The LORD is king. He has made the world firm, not to be moved; he governs the peoples with equity."  What equity is the psalmist referring to in a world torn by strife, where powerful nations and powerful men do what they will on smaller, weaker nations and weaker men?  On what part of the world now and even then, does the Lord have real kingship, where he rules with justice and love, where his followers are loyal and true?  Where in the world is that?  And so, many assertions of the psalms are not really true, at least today.

But here the psalmist is merely reiterating a very important reflex of our faith in God.  And what is that reflex?  The belief that the best is yet to come.  The belief that something good, something better is coming.  The belief that there is still a better world and therefore a better tomorrow.  The belief that God will fix things, he will make things right. 

If the psalms seem to lie it is because it is talking about the future, and he talks about the future as if it is the present, as if it is happening even now.  Why?  Because a Christian looks at the present world with an eye to the future God has in store for each one of us and he looks at this with optimism. 

And so we live our lives today, we pattern our lives today based on what we believe the world will still become because of Jesus.  What do I mean?  If in the future God will finally give us his gift of peace, today in my own little way, I shall learn to live in peace with everyone.  If in the future God will finally bring justice, then today in my own little way, I will treat everyone I meet justly.  Today the gospel may sound bleak, but we hold on and persevere knowing that our God will lead us always to everything that we hoped and long for.

Last two Sundays nga amo man ini ang gospel, nagmisa ako sa Guimaras upod sa mga seminarista kag sa misa ginpakanta ko sila sang Joy to the World. Makita mo gid nga daw nasaw-ahan sila because it is not yet Christmas, it is not even advent and they were made to sing a Christmas song.  But I told them Joy to the World is not a Christmas song.  It is not even an advent song.  Or at least Isaac Watts never intended it to be when he composed it.  It is a song that went the way of hindi kita malilimutan.  Naandan naton nga kantahon sa patay while in fact it was never composed for the funeral and neither does it talk about death.  Joy to the World is not a Christmas song, it is psalm 98.  It is a song telling us, inviting us to be joyful, for the Lord is with us and though we may be living in the present with all its difficulties and fears we have an eye to the future, the future fulfillment of all God's promises and so we are joyful, and so the announcement joy to the world.