Psalm Reflection: The Baptism of the Lord - Cycle A

“The Lord will bless his people with peace.” - Psalms 29

"Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?" - St. Gerard Majella

"My children, it is in loving the cross that we find true peace, not running from it. - St. John Vianney

"Let nothing trouble you, let nothing make you afraid. All things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains everything. God alone is enough…” - St. Teresa of Avila

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” - St. Teresa of Calcutta

Tell me what your prayer life looks like and I will tell you how much peace you have. The Saints were people of deep prayer and relationship with the Lord. As a result, they were able to live lives of heroic virtue, and, no matter their circumstances, were able to have peace in all things.

Many of them suffered persecution and even martyrdom because of their faith. And yet, where lack of conflict might have seemed like the easiest way to find “peace,” they chose the true peace of remaining convinced and steadfast in their faith instead of standing down. They were the fruits, the evidence, of this promise from the Psalms coming to fruition: “The Lord will bless his people with peace.”

Indeed He has.

Why then, does it seem that we are more anxious and worried than ever, and so few people seem to have peace at all?

The Lord never stops pouring out blessings and offering us His peace. However, we are the ones who are too busy to notice, or whose hands are too full to let go, drop what we are holding onto, and receive what the Lord is offering.

The peace the Lord offers us is not the earthly, false peace we tend to seek out. Our idea of peace is simply a lack of conflict. We might call it comfort, security, or stability. We live at a time where these things seem more possible and attainable than ever. We can buy all of our comforts with the clock of a button. We can monitor the safety of our homes remotely through cameras and alarms. We can track our finances and invest from our phones. None of that, however, can prevent the inevitable: change.

Things always change, and change threatens our comfort and our stability. When we hold on tightly to this false peace, it ends up making us even more anxious, worried, and obsessed with control.

The peace that God offers is shalom. Shalom is a sense of wholeness and harmony, an orientation where everything in our lives is directed toward the same purpose and rests upon the same foundation. Shalom does not mean that there will be no conflict, loss, change, or suffering. Shalom means that even in those moments, we will understand there is a greater will and a greater purpose at work that is actively seeking our greatest possible good.

When things suddenly go awry, it is hard to hold onto hope and trust that everything will work out. We try to grasp for control and understand what to do, we ask, “why God,” and we catastrophize every possible outcome. We often blame God for pulling the rug out from under us, but it is not His fault. We bought the rug and chose to plant our feet firmly upon it, expecting it to never need moving. True shalom will never come if we are standing on a foundation other than Christ,

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.” - Matthew 7:24-27

We lead ourselves into ruin by looking for false peace, but the Lord, in an effort to rescue us and offer us true peace, will use the unexpected events and changes in our lives to somehow bring  blessing. The way we can better attune our hearts to listen and receive that true peace from God is through prayer.

Prayer is not a formula to provoke or convince God to give us what we want; that desire or idea comes from our earthly understanding of peace. Prayer does not change God, it changes us. Prayer allows us to uproot ourselves from where we do not belong and to trust in the Lord. Prayer trains us in the art of loving surrender, because through our relationship with God we learn that He is faithful and worthy of our trust.

When our prayer is motivated by the truth of who God is, we can see the hidden blessings in even the most chaotic, difficult moments, and somehow we will still be able to find peace. That is the way of the Saints, and that is the same way we are called to walk. There is no other way to true peace, every other path leads to anxiety, worry, and destruction.

I invite you to trust. I invite you to surrender. Even if it is for the very first time in your life, I invite you to give everything in your life over to God and tell Him to take it all away if it will make you the person He created you to be. The most dangerous prayers have the most transformative results.

Pray boldly and dangerously, and you will find true peace in the Lord.

Has the world ever truly been able to satisfy the heart? Where in your life do you chase worldly comforts, only to find them fleeting?

What "cross" are you resisting right now, and how might embracing it lead to true peace?

What are you holding too tightly, with hands too full to receive the Lord's blessing?

When change or chaos hits, do you cling to control, or rest in his unchanging faithfulness? Why?

Where has busyness or worry blinded you to your belonging in Christ?

Does your prayer life reflect the depth of the Saints, or shallow grasping? What bold surrender can you offer today?

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, January 11th, 2026, the Baptism of the Lord: Psalms 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10.