The Right Hand’s Grip: Finding Strength in Failure
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
Psalm 73:21-28
When my heart became bitter and my soul was wounded, I was a brute and ignorant, an unthinking beast in your presence. Yet I was always with you; you grasped my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me to glory. Whom else have I in the heavens? None whatever on earth do I desire besides you. Though my flesh and my heart fail, God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever. For those who abandon you perish; you destroy those who are false to you. As for me, to be near God is my good, to take refuge in the Lord GOD, and to tell of all your works.
Grace Prayed For
The scripture passage prompts the reader to pray for the grace of unwavering spiritual focus (singleness of desire): the grace to acknowledge the times when the heart feels bitter and wounded, and yet, instantly reorient the soul to confess that God is the strength of our heart and our portion forever, desiring nothing else besides Him.
Reflection
The Journey of Intimacy begins not in a moment of strength, but often in the raw vulnerability of Trials. The psalmist is searingly honest: “When my heart became bitter and my soul was wounded, I was a brute and ignorant, an unthinking beast in your presence.” We, too, know these moments—when suffering clouds our vision and we feel spiritually clumsy, even unworthy, in the face of God’s majesty.
But the central truth of this passage, the essence of the Gospel, immediately follows: “Yet I was always with you; you grasped my right hand.” This is the ultimate testimony to how Jesus has loved me and loved you. Even in our bitterness and ignorance, His grip never loosens. He, the eternal Son, is always present, guiding us with His counsel and promising the ultimate Transformation: to be taken “to glory.”
This unwavering love is what reorients our entire being. The psalmist shifts from lament to confession: “None whatever on earth do I desire besides you.” Jesus has impacted my life—and yours—by becoming the single, necessary portion. When our flesh and my heart fail under the weight of trials, we discover that God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.
Our mission—the grace to share and receive—flows directly from this realized intimacy. We receive the strength and guidance of the God who grasps our right hand. Then, we are empowered to share this life-giving hope. “As for me, to be near God is my good… and to tell of all your works.” By partnering with Jesus, we become the hands and voice that testify to His constancy. We enter the world’s bitterness and brokenness not as judges, but as those who know the feel of His grasp, enabling us to gently take another’s hand, drawing them into the circle of His redeeming love and restoring creation.
Daily Evangelization and Baptismal Mission
Evangelizing in Day-to-Day Life
Fulfilling your Baptismal mission means making Jesus’s unwavering presence visible, even (especially) when things fail: Honest Testimony: When sharing your struggles with a trusted person, don’t just detail the trial; include the “and yet” of the Psalm. Share how Jesus “grasped your right hand,” showing that God is the strength of your heart even when you were “a brute and ignorant.”
When Time Allows Reflect on the Posts in Library and Musings
Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post