Overview:

Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

A Reflection for Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the rising to the setting of the sun is the name of the LORD to be praised. (Ps 113:3)

Find today’s readings here.

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I read this line from our Psalm today. 

As the fall season officially begins and daylight savings rapidly approaches, I thought: “Well, that’s not much time at all.” 

And, in one sense, it never really is.

This passage from Scripture calls us to recognize the fleeting nature of time—and how a life of prayer and service to God and our neighbor should take up the entirety of that time, literally! Though as fall festivities approach and a slew of holidays (great and small) come upon us, this line is a challenge to the daily priorities we set for ourselves. 

I’m reminded of the Benedictine phrase, “ora et labora,” or, “pray and work.” These words don’t need to exist in contrast, they can be two sides of the same coin. Prayer should imbue every aspect of our daily life, even work. Our lives should reflect a healthy balance.  

Maybe this is one way we can approach this line from the Psalm today, commanding that “from the rising to the setting of the sun is the name of the LORD to be praised.” As the sun rises and sets, maybe there’s something small that we can do to turn our gaze to God, whether at work, with our families or serving our neighbors. 

But this line doesn’t just have to mean a literal “day” either. We can also interpret  the rising and setting sun as our lives, or even the world itself. 

Today, the United States commemorates Indigenous Peoples Day, inviting us to reflect on how our nation has failed to praise God through love of neighbors—particularly through the harsh treatment, dispossession and violent deaths of the people who cared for this land before us. This day also invites us to reflect communally and individually, “How can we be better? How can we grow?” Or, put in the context of this passage, “How can I praise the Lord’s name and be a better neighbor to those who have come before me and learn from this history?”

Today, we are called to continuously praise God’s name, in whatever way we can, both in our day-to-day lives, serving God and neighbor, and as people of faith. In this way, in our own “ora et labora,” we can proclaim in the words of the psalmist, with great confidence, that “from the rising to the setting of the sun is the name of the LORD to be praised.”

John Consolie is the assistant director of Outreach.