A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on October 9, 2023 at Ernescliff College in Toronto.

Psalm 116, 12-13 sings: What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

What a question. What can I render to the Lord, for all that he has really given me? For all he has done? The psalmist feels indebted to God and he resolves to repay him by an act of worship. Regardless of what we do and think today, somewhere there has to be a deep vow of gratitude, of thanksgiving. An openness to acknowledge all that I have really received in my life, in my vocation, my limbs, my sight, but even my suffering, my pain, my tiresome work, because the Lord God has given it all meaning.
That the blows we receive in life "are necessary to hack away what is superfluous from the huge block of marble." Like what happened to Michelangelo when he sculpted the David.

Music: Carlos Gardel, Soledad, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink.

Thumbnail: Etty Hillesum 1939.