I recently started attending a zoom vespers service on Sunday evenings. I’ll share more about this in a future blog, but last night I lead the service and wanted to share the Psalm, followed by my reflection.

Psalm 109 (110)
The Lord has said to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand
while I make your enemies your footstool.
From Zion the Lord will give you a sceptre,
and you will rule in the midst of your foes.
Royal power is yours in the day of your strength,
among the sacred splendours.
Before the dawn, I begot you from the womb.
The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent:
“You are a priest for ever,
a priest of the priesthood of Melchisedech.”
The Lord is at your right hand,
and on the day of his anger he will shatter kings.
He will drink from the stream as he goes –
he will hold his head high.

Reflection (in part):
The bus accident was a physical and an emotional challenge, and I am often asked if my faith helped me through it. No, it did not. It was the faith of the community around me, who prayed for me, and lifted me up when I – literally – could not walk, that got me through it. And I knew, for the rest of my life, that I wanted to be part of this beautiful community of faith. And I went through RCIA after I graduated from Notre Dame and joined the Catholic Church.

But the lasting effects of the bus accident continued to be a challenge for me; how do you live with a tragic event and be happy? How do you find the blessings in tragedy? How do you accept that tragedy has changed your life, and be okay with it?.

In the Psalm 109, we hear the passage: “Sit at my right hand while I make your enemies your footstool.”

What does God mean when he says this? Well, first of all, putting our feet on a footstool is to declare dominance. But is God really going to turn our enemies into footstools? And who is our enemy anyway? I think what God is referring to in Psalm 109 is not our enemies as a person, but the enemy of evil and sin. Our “enemies” are anything that come between us and our relationship with God…maybe it’s greed, pride, or envy. Or maybe it’s a tragedy that hardens our heart and our relationship with God.

Through my faith, with the example of the community of faith I found at Notre Dame, and also found at Xavier – where I taught after I graduated from college – I have felt the presence of God. I’m not sure I am sitting at His right hand, but the enemy of a hardened heart is my footstool, and with God’s love and presence in my life, I have my feet on the footstool of my tragedy.