Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom
BY Greg Zambrano
Attending Mass one day with my kids, I heard Responsorial Psalm 145 read. I thought it inspiring and filled with unlimited imagery to ponder about giving glory to God and praising his name.
Images obtained through prayer help me relax, sit back and enjoy the course. It’s like navigating down a small but deep river.
I might begin my prayer journey by considering the many Catholic saints that have lived through the centuries. The church declares someone a saint “by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God’s grace” – the Catechism of the Catholic Church 828.
Jesus says in John 15:14, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” If you’re living in fidelity to God’s grace, you are Jesus’ friend because you do what he commands. Being a saint makes you a friend of God. Through you, the glorious splendor of his kingdom is known.
1 Corinthians 2:9 states, “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.’” If God searches inside me and you and finds that we truly love him, what he has prepared for us is something beyond our imagination.
Several Bible passages come to mind that detail God in Heaven. In Revelation 21:10b-11, “Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance like that of a precious stone, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” In Isaiah 6:3, “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’”
Friends of God easily recognized “Holy, holy, holy” from saying this prayer at Mass. By being a friend of God, obeying him and attending Mass, we make known the splendor of his kingdom.
Throughout this summer, there was rarely a day that I’d wake up to sunshine. Most days at 7 a.m. it looked like midnight. Our lives can be exactly like these stormy days. With God’s grace, we can break through the thick, thunderous, dark clouds that surround us to reach the majestic and eternal splendor of God’s Kingdom.
