PsalmGifs Podcast

The Psalmist speaks to the "turning" of conversion, as God's grace "takes the reigns" of the soul and turns it towards Himself. The Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are alluded to and fleshed out in the Good Shepherd's care for the sheep as He leads them on the narrow path to salvation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...

In this well-known Psalm, the Psalmist casts the relationship between himself and the Lord as that between sheep and shepherd. To be shepherded by the Lord is to be ruled and led and to have complete dependence on Him for all that is good and total submission of one's will. The care of the shepherd for the sheep is such that the sheep will want for nothing, and this is preeminently fulfilled by ou...

The pastures in which God sets His sheep to feed are the words and God and His commandments, and these lead to faith. The waters are a symbol of Baptism which brings faith to fruition, and this entire sacramental reality reveals the Church as the fullness of the truth and the means by which God distributes grace to world. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subsc...

The coming of the Lord is judgment closes out this Psalm, as the Psalmist speaks of the judgment in justice (aequitas) and truth (veritas). The impending and inevitable judgment is not a source of fear for those united to Christ but rather of hope, as it culminates their redemption. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,...

The Psalmist describes the exultation of the physical world at the presence of the Lord, and these various aspects of nature signify the work of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. The fields are those who in humility are prepared to receive from the Lord, while the trees are those who were formerly barren who have had the "woodiness" of sin cleared away so as to be transformed. This is a public...

The Incarnation and Second Coming of the Lord is now prophesied by the Psalmist who sets it in terms of the praises of the physical world. The ancient Gnostic heresies could not accept the Incarnation as a reality, but it is the bedrock of redemption in which the totality of man in soul and body participates. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

Adoration is the end of sacrifice, which is perfected in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. By uniting ourselves to Christ we are able to render to God the homage and worship and adoration He is due. The admixture of reverence and adoration forms the ground of the "fear of the Lord," which recognizes His supremacy over all things. The Psalmist prophesies His two comings in the Incarnation and the Sec...

Adoration is the end of sacrifice, which is perfected in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. By uniting ourselves to Christ we are able to render to God the homage and worship and adoration He is due. The admixture of reverence and adoration forms the ground of the "fear of the Lord," which recognizes His supremacy over all things. The Psalmist prophesies His two comings in the Incarnation and the Sec...

The Psalmist foresees the conversion of the Gentiles and their incorporation into the Church by means of their bringing sacrifices to the Lord, which culminates in and is fulfilled in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psalmgifs.substack.com

The promise of the Gospel is prophesied by the Psalmist, who calls the Gentiles to the Lord in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This incorporation into Christ through the sacrament of Baptism is the end result of the grace lavished upon man by our Lord's sacrifice, and our return is to give unto Him the gifts He bestows upon us, the "glory and honor" of which the Psalmist speaks. This is a pub...

In confession we tell the truth about God and about ourselves, and penance thus conforms us to the likeness of Christ, Who in humility humbled Himself for our sake. This confessions makes us beautiful, which brings us "before God," as it were. The Psalmist then draws this forward to the Beatific Vision in which are found "holiness and majesty." God's graciousness towards us lifts us to those heigh...

The Psalmist further contrasts the gods of the nation with the Lord who made the heavens, noting that the gods of the nations are in reality demons. Idolatry is the offering of sacrifice to demons, whether in terms of gods made of stone or metal or the modern ones comprised of totalizing ideologies. This unworthy and pagan sacrifice stands in sharp contrast to the One Holy Sacrifice of or Lord off...

The Psalmist pulls back to give a macroscopic view of God's greatness, the wonder of which is beyond human comprehension. In our language for God we often must speak apophatically so as to avoid projecting our own limitations upon Him. In the Incarnation the greatness of God and the lowliness of human nature bridges the chasm between apophatic and cataphatic, for in Our Lord Jesus Christ God has a...

Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people. (Psalm 95:3 DR) There is no salvation outside the Church ( extra ecclesiam nulla salus ), which is the promise that there is salvation inside the Church. This reality is undergirded by the Church as the Mystical Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Head of that same Body and the fulness of truth Incarnate and the only way to...

The foundation of the Church is not merely her teaching but Christ and His apostles, whose authority has been handed down throughout the ages of the Church. The Church as a body celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass through her ordained ministers, who act in persona Christi in that offering, in which our Lord offers the one Sacrifice as High Priest. This reality begins to flesh out the Psalmis...

The Psalmist uses music as a metaphor for the building of the coming kingdom of Christ, His Mystical Body the Church. Songs and hymns have been used throughout Church history both for good and for ill, but the “new song” of the Church accompanies her establishment as concretized in her hierarchy and her individual members. St. Augustine sees in this new song of the Church a moral corollary to the...