Psalm Reflection: The Third Sunday of Easter - Cycle A
“Lord, you will show us the path of life.” - Psalms 16
Growing up in a rural mountain community, I spent a lot of time hiking and wandering around out in nature. There is one rule every beginner learns when they take up hiking: stay on the path. When you stay on the path, you have a much easier way finding your way back if you get turned around. On the path, danger cannot hide as easily, and you can be sure that, if something happens, help can get to you much more easily. Wandering off the path makes us much more prone to encounter danger and have a harder time escaping it. Leaving the path makes us likely to get lost or to be injured and left without help or rescue.
Oftentimes we think we are staying on the path of life, but all of a sudden it dead ends or disappears, and we do not know where to go or what to do next. When this happens, we can begin to panic, become anxious, or start to veer off of the path and into the wilderness to find a way out. However, when the path we are walking ends or presents an immovable obstacle, it can be a sign that we are on OUR path, instead of God’s path.
The Christian life is one of surrender, constantly relying more and more on God each day regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in. If we focus on what we can “do” in following the Lord, we will look to ourselves and our accomplishments for our sense of worth and purpose. That might be fine for a while, but eventually the road in front of us will be blocked, it will fork, or it will disappear. However, if we focus on how we can let go and surrender, the path will always be laid before us.
Jesus did not say that He is “a way,” He said I am THE way, and THE truth and THE life (John 14.6). He is the only way. We can stubbornly forge ahead, headlong and unyielding, but we will eventually get to a place where we cannot find a way out, past, or through what comes our way.
How much do you trust God?
Enough to give up control?
Do you trust God only when you NEED to because you have already tried everything else? Or are you willing to go where He leads FIRST and follow Him faithfully even if you cannot see what lies around the corners of the winding path of sainthood?
Trust in the Lord for He is good. So, so good. His path is the path of life, and our path can never even come close to being better. So let go, turn around, and lace up those hiking boots to walk wherever He may lead.
This past Sunday was Divine Mercy Sunday, and so I invite you to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy each day if you can to grow in your trust in the Lord, or at the very least pray these words each day especially in moments of doubt or difficulty: “Jesus, I trust in You.”
What path have you been walking, thinking it was God's, only to discover it was yours?
When you look back at a time you got "stuck" or "lost" in your spiritual life, what were you actually trying to control?
Where in your life right now are you still trying to find a way instead of asking God to show you the way?
What would change if you stopped asking "How do I get what I want from God?" and started asking instead "What does God want to give me?"
Do you trust God only when you have exhausted every other option, or are you willing to go first to Him?
If you're honest, what are you most afraid of surrendering?
What does "staying on the path" actually mean in the season you're in right now?
Jesus, I trust in You. If you prayed those five words slowly, every morning for a week, what might shift in how you move through your day?
I am praying for you. Please pray for me and my family, and I will see you in the Eucharist.
Matt
This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, April 19th, 2026, the Third Sunday of Easter: Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11.
