Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So!

Psalm 107:2

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble.

One of the temptations of the believer is to feel as though the motto of Heaven is the same as that of the public library: “Shhhhh!!!”  We Catholics in particular have a great fear of being too showy and ostentatious in our praise of God.  To be sure, it is the wise person who heeds Jesus’ advice against making a public spectacle of our piety.  But to emphasize only this aspect of biblical teaching is to overlook the other end of the biblical spectrum.  When the man who could not walk was healed in the Temple court (Acts 3:1-10) he responded to this astonishing gift of God in the proper and human way: he made a public spectacle of himself “walking and leaping and praising God.”  We Catholics could do with letting our hair down a bit and making a public spectacle of our gratitude to God now and then.  For we have been healed of something far worse than physical paralysis.  God, through Jesus Christ, has made us able to walk with him, leap all the way to heaven and praise him forever in his court.  Today, let we who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ say so.

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Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog and regularly blogs for National Catholic Register. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.

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